Fig. 1: Sertoli cell-specific knockout of Kindlin-2 in mice induced destruction of seminiferous tubules and testicular dysplasia.
From: Kindlin-2 in Sertoli cells is essential for testis development and male fertility in mice
A Gross morphology of testes from WT (refers to Kindlin-2f/f) and KO (refers to Amh-Cre; Kindlin-2f/f) mice at 2–12 W. Compared to the WT mice, the size of KO testes is dramatically decreased. Scale bar, 5 mm. B Quantification of bilateral testes for mice (mean ± S.D. and n = 6). The variance was similar between the groups that are being statistically compared. Statistical analyses were performed using Student’s t-test at indicated time point. The variance was similar between the groups. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. C Hematoxylin and eosin-staining (HE) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) of Kindlin-2, WT1 (Sertoli cell nucleus marker) and StAR (Leydig cell marker) in 4 W testes. Scale bar, 50 μm. Red arrows indicate the Sertoli cells, red and blank broken lines indicate the testicular tubular lumina. D Immunofluorescence of α-Tubulin (green) and laminin (red) in 4 W testes of WT and KO mice. The basement membrane of KO mice was thickener than that of WT mice (white arrow heads) Scale bar, 50 μm. E Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of 8 W testes. SC means Sertoli cell, GC means germinal cell, BM means basement membrane. Scale bar, 2 μm. Red arrows: tight junction in WT testes and a large gap with only a loose cell junction between adjacent SCs in KO testes. Blue arrows: vacuoles located between adjacent SCs in KO testis.
