Extended Data Fig. 7: Testosterone production induces intercellular transfer of materials from tMacs to LCs.
From: An extracellular vesicle-mediated mitochondrial transfer network critical for testosterone synthesis
a, Representative confocal images of cells that transfer tdTomato+ particles to LCs in TAM-induced Cx3cr1CreER; R26tdTomato mice, SmaCreER; R26tdTomato mice, PdgfraCreER; R26tdTomato mice and AmhCre; R26tdTomato mice (From left to right). Testes sections were immunostained for CYP17A1 and counterstained with DAPI (n = 4 mice per group). Scale bars, 10 μm. Inset shows boxed regions that are magnified. Scale bars, 2 μm. b, Quantification of the percentage of LCs that phagocytosed particles originating from indicated cell types (n = 4 mice per group). c, Representative confocal images and 3D reconstruction of LCs taking up GFP+ tMac particles from the testes of Cyp17a1Cre; R26tdTomato; Cx3cr1GFP mice. These mice were injected i.p. with Saline (Con) or hCG (1 IU/mouse) (n = 3 mice per group). Scale bars, 3 μm. 3D reconstruction shows Inset boxed regions that are magnified, scale bars, 3 μm. d, The percentage of LCs uptake tMac-derived particles (n = 3 mice per group). e, The experimental design is illustrated in the schematic diagram. Cx3cr1GFP mice were injected i.p. with Saline (Con) or hCG (1 IU/mouse). Testicular single-cell suspensions were then prepared, and LCs were labelled with antibodies for subsequent analysis. f, The percentage of LCs that acquired tMac-derived particles was determined by flow cytometry (n = 5 biological replicates per group). g, The percentage of LCs that acquired tMac-derived particles (n = 5 biological replicates per group). h, Serum LH in Cyp17a1Cre; R26tdTomato; Cx3cr1GFP mice at 96 h after Saline (Con) or degarelix (40 mg/kg) treatment (n = 6 mice per group). i, Testosterone levels in mice from the 2 groups (n = 6 mice per group). j, Representative confocal images of the testes from the 2 groups (n = 6 mice per group). Scale bars, 7 μm. Inset shows boxed regions that are magnified. Scale bar, 2 μm. Inset shows boxed regions that are magnified. Scale bar, 2 μm. k, Percentage of LCs containing tMac-derived particles in mice from the 2 groups (n = 6 mice per group). Data are represented by mean ± SEM (b,d,g,h,i,k). Significances were determined using one-way ANOVA (b), Two-tailed Student’s t-test (d,g,k), or Two-tailed Welch’s t-test (h,i). Schematics in a,e created in BioRender. Xia, K. (2026) https://biorender.com/6urrzth. Source numerical data are provided.
