Fig. 5: Loss of Kastor and Polluks results in impaired male fertility. | Nature Communications

Fig. 5: Loss of Kastor and Polluks results in impaired male fertility.

From: Kastor and Polluks polypeptides encoded by a single gene locus cooperatively regulate VDAC and spermatogenesis

Fig. 5

a Immunoblot analysis of testis or of spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymis of WT, Kastor KO, Polluks KO, dKO, or VDAC3 KO mice. b Gross appearance of the testes of WT and the indicated mutant mice at 8–10 weeks of age. Scale bar, 5 mm. c–e Body weight (c), testicular weight (d), and count for spermatozoa collected from the cauda epididymis (e) for the indicated numbers of WT and mutant mice at 8–10 weeks of age. f Hematoxylin-eosin staining of testicular sections of adult WT and the indicated mutant mice. Scale bars, 100 μm. g Number of pups produced by the indicated numbers of plugged WT female mice mated with the indicated numbers of male mice of the indicated genotypes. h–j Sperm motility analysis for adult mice of the indicated genotypes. Average path velocity (VAP) (h), straight line velocity (VSL) (i), and curvilinear velocity (VCL) (j) were analyzed with the CEROS or CEROS II systems. k, l Fertilization rate for an IVF assay performed with spermatozoa from the indicated numbers of adult mice of the indicated genotypes and the indicated numbers of either cumulus-intact (k) or ZP-free (l) oocytes from WT mice. All quantitative data are means ± s.d. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; NS, not significant (unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test or Welch’s t test). Source data are provided as a Source data file.

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