reproductive system
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• at 2 weeks of age or later, spermatogenic cells undergo apoptotic cell death at the early spermatocyte stage, as shown by TUNEL staining
• TUNEL+ spermatogenic cells are observed in the adluminal area nearest to the basal compartment throughout the postnatal to adult stages
• however, no differences in TUNEL+ cell number are observed in the newborn and 1-week-old stage
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• at 12 weeks of age, ~85% of transverse sections of seminiferous tubules lack some spermatogenic cells
• ~3.3% of tubules contain both round and elongated spermatids but completely lack spermatocytes; ~68.8% of tubules contain a few spermatocytes and a few spermatids; and ~13.0% of tubules show almost complete lack of meiotic and post-meiotic spermatogenic cells in the adluminal compartment
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• at 12 weeks of age, testes are grossly smaller than those in male controls
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• at 12 weeks of age, testis weight x 100/body weight (%) is significantly lower than that in male controls
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• testes show defective transition from the mitotic to meiotic phases and/or defective maintenance of early meiotic phase
• however, maintenance of undifferentiated GFRA1+/PLZF+ and differentiating KIT+ spermatogonia appear to be normal
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• adult males contain only a few spermatozoa in the caudal epididymides
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• some affected spermatids show aberrant condensed Hsc70t-positive signals as a residual body-like structure in the seminiferous tubules
• also, some elongated spermatids are degenerating and occasionally misaligned near the basement membrane, suggesting Sertoli cell phagocytosis of aberrant spermatids
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• at 12 weeks of age, anti-SCP3 immunostaining showed that the relative number of spermatocytes is reduced to three-fourths of control testes
• however, spermatocytes that pass through meiotic differentiation and remain in affected seminiferous tubules show no defects in recombination and formation of the XY body
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• PAS staining showed that some fully completed spermatozoa are abnormally retained in the seminiferous tubules containing the elongating spermatids at step 9-10, suggesting defects in spermiogenesis and/ or spermiation
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• failure of spermiation subsequent to apoptotic cell death in early spermatocytes
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• males are completely infertile
• however, vaginal plugs are observed in paired wild-type females
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cellular
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• adult males contain only a few spermatozoa in the caudal epididymides
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• some affected spermatids show aberrant condensed Hsc70t-positive signals as a residual body-like structure in the seminiferous tubules
• also, some elongated spermatids are degenerating and occasionally misaligned near the basement membrane, suggesting Sertoli cell phagocytosis of aberrant spermatids
|
|
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• at 12 weeks of age, anti-SCP3 immunostaining showed that the relative number of spermatocytes is reduced to three-fourths of control testes
• however, spermatocytes that pass through meiotic differentiation and remain in affected seminiferous tubules show no defects in recombination and formation of the XY body
|
|
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• at 2 weeks of age or later, spermatogenic cells undergo apoptotic cell death at the early spermatocyte stage, as shown by TUNEL staining
• TUNEL+ spermatogenic cells are observed in the adluminal area nearest to the basal compartment throughout the postnatal to adult stages
• however, no differences in TUNEL+ cell number are observed in the newborn and 1-week-old stage
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endocrine/exocrine glands
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• at 12 weeks of age, ~85% of transverse sections of seminiferous tubules lack some spermatogenic cells
• ~3.3% of tubules contain both round and elongated spermatids but completely lack spermatocytes; ~68.8% of tubules contain a few spermatocytes and a few spermatids; and ~13.0% of tubules show almost complete lack of meiotic and post-meiotic spermatogenic cells in the adluminal compartment
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• at 12 weeks of age, testes are grossly smaller than those in male controls
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• at 12 weeks of age, testis weight x 100/body weight (%) is significantly lower than that in male controls
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Analysis Tools
