Timing is everything

As published in the February 1st issue of G&D, a team of European scientists has identified a key regulator of male puberty. Dr. Johan Auwerx and colleagues report that the nuclear receptor, SHP, controls both testosterone synthesis and germ cell differentiation in male mouse testis. The researchers found that mice deficient for SHP displayed an earlier onset of fertility, due to an absence of the normally repressive effects of SHP on testosterone production and germ cell differentiation. Dr. Auwerx is hopeful that "the signaling pathway controlled by SHP merits to be explored in human subjects with fertility problems."