Figure 3: Aldh1a1 is expressed and ALDH1A1 catalyses RA production in the fetal mouse ovary.
From: ALDH1A1 provides a source of meiosis-inducing retinoic acid in mouse fetal ovaries
(a) Aldh1a1 expression was measured by qRT–PCR in gonad-only tissue dissected at 13.5 d.p.c. from C57BL/6 embryos (n=3,3). (b) By immunofluorescence ALDH1A1 expression is lower in fetal ovary (XX WT) than in fetal testis (XY Wt) but is detectable above background levels (XY ALDH1A1 KO) at 14.5 d.p.c. DDX4 (red) marks germ cells. Scale bar, 25 μm. (c) By western blot analysis, ALDH1A1 is detectable in fetal ovaries (XX) at lower levels than in fetal testes (XY) at 13.5 and 14.5 d.p.c. but is not detected in fetal mesonephros (meso.). (d) Gonads from RARE-lacZ;ALDH1A1 wild-type (Wt) or RARE-lacZ;ALDH1A1-knockout (KO) embryos were isolated and lacZ expression was measured by qRT–PCR (n=18, 4, 14, 8). *P<0.05, **P<0.01 (Student’s unpaired t-test, mean+s.e.m. shown).
