Analysis Tools
reproductive system
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• male homozygotes show no alterations in sexual behavior, testis weight and size, sperm count or sperm motility relative to wild-type or heterozygous controls
• female homozygotes are fertile
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• Hoechst-stained cauda sperm exhibit various morphological defects
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• SEM analysis revealed a significantly higher frequency of sperm head malformations relative to wild-type or heterozygous controls
• misshapen sperm heads include mainly hammer- or axe-like shapes, unlike the hook-shaped sperm seen in wild-type controls
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• a large fraction of spermatid acroplaxomes form abnormal vacuoles
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• elongated spermatids show nuclear envelope and nuclear shape defects
• although the acrosome and acroplaxome are properly assembled on the surface of the electron-dense nuclear dense lamina (NDL) in elongating spermatids, the nuclei begin to show slight deformity
• in cauda sperm, the nuclear membrane does not conform closely to the nuclear outline, and an invagination remains in the nucleus
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• condensed spermatids show structural defects including a discontinuous nuclear envelope and a cavity in the nucleus associated with an abnormal nuclear shape
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• male homozygotes are subfertile
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• IVF assays using cumulus-intact wild-type eggs revealed that mutant cauda sperm penetrate the zona pellucida but accumulate around the perivitelline space of eggs, suggesting abnormal sperm-egg fusion
• when zona-free wild-type eggs are inseminated with mutant caudal sperm, the average number of fused sperm per egg is significantly lower than that with wild-type sperm
• however, the in vitro acrosome reaction is normal as the cumulus mass surrounding eggs is removed by mutant sperm
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• IVF assays using cumulus-intact wild-type eggs and mutant cauda sperm revealed that the two-cell cleavage rate scored 24 h after insemination is 16.5 +/- 3% versus 77.6 +/- 7% in wild-type sperm
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cellular
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• Hoechst-stained cauda sperm exhibit various morphological defects
|
|
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• SEM analysis revealed a significantly higher frequency of sperm head malformations relative to wild-type or heterozygous controls
• misshapen sperm heads include mainly hammer- or axe-like shapes, unlike the hook-shaped sperm seen in wild-type controls
|
|
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• a large fraction of spermatid acroplaxomes form abnormal vacuoles
|
|
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• elongated spermatids show nuclear envelope and nuclear shape defects
• although the acrosome and acroplaxome are properly assembled on the surface of the electron-dense nuclear dense lamina (NDL) in elongating spermatids, the nuclei begin to show slight deformity
• in cauda sperm, the nuclear membrane does not conform closely to the nuclear outline, and an invagination remains in the nucleus
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• condensed spermatids show structural defects including a discontinuous nuclear envelope and a cavity in the nucleus associated with an abnormal nuclear shape
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