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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Histol Histopathol. 2016 Mar 9;31(9):961–968. doi: 10.14670/HH-11-753

Figure 2. A schematic drawing illustrates the functional relationship of mTORC1 and mTORC2 on BTB dynamics.

Figure 2

As discussed in text, mTORC1 promotes BTB remodeling whereas mTORC2 promotes BTB integrity through their actions on the organization of actin microfilaments at the basal ES/BTB, in which mTORC2 likely promotes unbundling of actin microfilaments whereas mTORC2 promotes bundling of actin microfilaments. The antagonistic actions of two these signaling complexes thus provide an efficient mechanism to confer restructuring of the BTB during the epithelial cycle of spermatogenesis, in particular at stage VII-VIII of the cycle when preleptotene spermatocytes are being transported across the immunological barrier. Furthermore, the effect of mTORC2 on gap junction function can also modulate meiosis as discussed in text.