Fig. 7: Roles of Lactobacillus–bile acids–vitamin A/E–STING1 axis in chronic stress-induced oligozoospermia.
From: Chronic stress drives oligoasthenozoospermia via gut microbiota-vitamin-Sting1/Slc9c2 axis
a Two-dimensional principal component analysis (PCA) score plot showing transcriptomic separation between the CFSS and sham FS groups based on testicular RNA-seq data. b Heatmap showing hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the testis tissues between the CFSS and sham FS rats. c Volcano plot illustrating the DEGs between the two groups, with Sting1 highlighted as significantly upregulated in CFSS rats. d Increased expression of Sting1 mRNA level in the testicular tissues of CFSS rats (n = 6 rats per group). e Elevated expression of STING1 protein in the testicular tissues of CFSS rats (n = 4 rats per group). f Representative immunofluorescence images showing enhanced STING1 signal in the seminiferous tubules of CFSS rats (n = 3 biological replicates per group). Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars=50 µm. g Reduced Sting1 mRNA expression in testicular tissues of Lactobacillus-treated CFSS rats compared to vehicle-treated counterparts (n = 4 per group). h Decreased STING1 protein levels in the testes of Lactobacillus-supplemented CFSS rats (n = 4 per group). i Representative immunofluorescence images revealing attenuated STING1 staining in seminiferous tubules of Lactobacillus-treated CFSS rats (n = 3 biological replicates per group). j Downregulation of Sting1 mRNA in testicular tissues of vitamin A/E-supplemented CFSS rats (n = 6 per group). k Reduced STING1 protein expression in the testes of vitamin A/E-treated CFSS rats (n = 4 per group). l Representative immunofluorescence images showing diminished STING1 signal in seminiferous tubules of vitamin A/E-treated CFSS rats (n = 3 biological replicates per group). Data are presented as mean ± S.E.M. Two-tailed unpaired t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction for (c).Two-tailed unpaired t test for (d), (e), (g), (h), (j) and (k). The exact p values are presented in the figures as indicated. Source data are provided in the Source Data file.
