Analysis Tools
cellular
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• increase in apoptosis in oocytes due to meiotic arrest
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• fetal ovaries have fewer oocytes and elevated apoptotic nuclei
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• oocytes from superovulated females have a thin zona pellucida that is tightly adherent to the plasma membrane
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• germ cells fail to progress beyond the early pachytene spermatocyte stage of meiosis and undergo cell death, such that by by 8.5 months of age, no germ cells are present
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growth/size/body
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• mutants exhibit adult-onset obesity
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• newborns are smaller, however by 16 weeks of age, body weights are similar to wild-type
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• mutants exhibit a subtle linear growth retardation after birth
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adipose tissue
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• body fat content is elevated in adults and is associated with reduced lean body mass and a corresponding increase in fat mass and not due to an increase in total body mass
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behavior/neurological
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• the compensatory hyperphagia that is seen in wild-type mice after food deprivation is substantially blunted in adult mutants
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homeostasis/metabolism
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• serum leptin levels are elevated in adults, even after food deprivation
• however, blood glucose and serum insulin levels are normal in adult obese mutants
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• the compensatory hyperphagia that is seen in wild-type mice after food deprivation is substantially blunted in adult mutants and they show impaired body weight recovery after fasting
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nervous system
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• total neuron counts in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus are reduced by about 30% in 3-month old mutants
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• progressive neuron degeneration in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus
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reproductive system
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• few corpora lutea are seen at 2 and 5 months of age
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• ovaries of 2 and 5 month old females contain few mature follicles
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• following treatment with PMSG, females form normal antral follicles in which oocytes contain a normal-appearing germinal vesicle, however the size of the antral follicles is smaller
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small ovary
(
J:130361
)
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• ovarian size is significantly reduced at 5 months of age
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• 5 month old ovaries weigh on average 2-3 times less than control ovaries
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• seminiferous tubules are smaller by 19 days of age and by 40 days, the lumen of the seminiferous tubules is absent
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small testis
(
J:130361
)
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• testes fail to increase in size with age, such that at 5 months of age, testes are significantly smaller than in wild-type and by 8.5 months, testes are severely atrophic
• however, Leydig cell function appears normal
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• by 8.5 months, testes are severely atrophic
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• progressive testes degeneration
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• increase in apoptosis in oocytes due to meiotic arrest
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• fetal ovaries have fewer oocytes and elevated apoptotic nuclei
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• oocytes from superovulated females have a thin zona pellucida that is tightly adherent to the plasma membrane
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• germ cells fail to progress beyond the early pachytene spermatocyte stage of meiosis and undergo cell death, such that by by 8.5 months of age, no germ cells are present
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• oocytes exhibit a heteromorphic meiotic arrest but do not proceed beyond metaphase I
• nuclear envelope dissolution is delayed and is observed in fewer than 70% of oocytes, indicating that oocytes cannot exit meiotic prophase and that those that exit prophase cannot complete meiosis I
• chromosomes from oocytes only rarely align on a normal-looking spindle, indicating that oocytes cannot get through the prophase-to-metaphase transition
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• spermatogenesis is arrested in prophase of meiosis I, before metaphase of the first meiotic division
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• females superovulated with follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone rarely ovulate any oocytes
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endocrine/exocrine glands
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• few corpora lutea are seen at 2 and 5 months of age
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• ovaries of 2 and 5 month old females contain few mature follicles
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• following treatment with PMSG, females form normal antral follicles in which oocytes contain a normal-appearing germinal vesicle, however the size of the antral follicles is smaller
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small ovary
(
J:130361
)
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• ovarian size is significantly reduced at 5 months of age
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• 5 month old ovaries weigh on average 2-3 times less than control ovaries
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• seminiferous tubules are smaller by 19 days of age and by 40 days, the lumen of the seminiferous tubules is absent
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small testis
(
J:130361
)
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• testes fail to increase in size with age, such that at 5 months of age, testes are significantly smaller than in wild-type and by 8.5 months, testes are severely atrophic
• however, Leydig cell function appears normal
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• by 8.5 months, testes are severely atrophic
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• progressive testes degeneration
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