Fig. 7: Establishment of toxicity biomarker-conjugated fluorescent reporter system in both the Sertoli and Leydig chambers of the testis-on-a-chip. | Experimental & Molecular Medicine

Fig. 7: Establishment of toxicity biomarker-conjugated fluorescent reporter system in both the Sertoli and Leydig chambers of the testis-on-a-chip.

From: Development of a novel testis-on-a-chip that demonstrates reciprocal crosstalk between Sertoli and Leydig cells in testicular tissue

Fig. 7

A SERPINB2-conjugated fluorescent reporter system was successfully introduced into Sertoli and Leydig cells so that toxicant-induced SERPINB2 activity could be converted to red (mCherry) or green (GFP) fluorescence signals. Therefore, the male reproductive toxicity of certain drug candidates can be evaluated intuitively and quantitatively by measuring the fluorescence intensity (a). This fluorescent reporter system was introduced to the Sertoli or Leydig cells that had been properly loaded into the corresponding chambers of the testis-on-a-chip. The distribution patterns of the loaded cells within each chamber were assessed using a fluorescence microscope (b). Toxicant exposure (5 ng/ml dioxin) significantly increased SERPINB2 activity, which was subsequently converted into red or green fluorescence signals in the Sertoli or Leydig cell chambers of the chip, respectively (c). The data are presented as the means ± standard deviations. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.005; and ***p < 0.001 (two-sample t test).

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