Figure 3

Spermatogenesis. (a,b): protein and mRNA levels of specific proteins involved in spermatogenesis from spermatogonial stem cells (GFRa1), spermatogonia A (Plzf and kit-L), spermatogonia B (STRA8), primary spermatocytes (SYCP3), and spermatids (Prm1). (c–p) IHC assay of testis in Tg mice and WT controls for STRA8, SYCP3, androgen receptor (AR), and caspase 3 (CASP3, an apoptosis marker). STRA8 immunostaining revealed an elevated quantity of spermatogonia B in Tg mice, in terms of the number of positive cells per tubule and the number of positive tubules in the whole section. In Tg mice, SYCP3 staining revealed aberrant expression in cells with the same morphology as spermatogonia, i.e., small cells close to the basal membrane. In WT mice, the stained cells corresponded to primary spermatocytes, as expected. There was no intergroup difference in AR staining. There was no difference in cleaved caspase-3 staining between Tg and WT mice; no apoptosis was observed in either group, relative to a heat-induced positive control (arrows). p value : 0.033 (*), 0.002 (**), <0.001 (***).