FIG. 7.

Germ cell apoptosis in AF5q31^+/+ and AF5q31^−/− mice. (A) Apoptotic cells detected by an in situ TUNEL assay in testis sections from 12-week-old AF5q31^+/+ (left) and AF5q31^−/− (right) mice. TUNEL-positive cells were seen with fluorescein isothiocyanate (green). All the cells were visualized with DAPI (blue). (B) Quantification of apoptotic germ cells in the seminiferous tubules of 12-week-old AF5q31^+/+ and AF5q31^−/− mice. In each testis, TUNEL-positive (apoptotic) nuclei in more than 100 randomly sectioned seminiferous tubules were counted and averaged. Error bars represent standard errors. Statistical significance (*, P < 0.01) was assessed by Student's t test.