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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Feb 4.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2011 Jul 20;476(7358):101–104. doi: 10.1038/nature10239

Figure 2. Sertoli-to-granulosa transdifferentiation in the adult testis.

Figure 2

Expression of FOXL2 and SOX9 one month after tamoxifen injection into Dmrt1flox/flox adult males (8 weeks and older) carrying inducible ubiquitous cre transgene UBC-cre/ERT2. (a,b) Sertoli cells in control testis express SOX9 but not FOXL2. (c–f) Mutant testis has Sertoli-like cells expressing SOX9 or SOX9 and FOXL2 (inset, d) and granulosa-like cells expressing only FOXL2 (inset, f). (g,h) FOXL2-positive cells in control ovary have DAPI morphology similar to FOXL2 single-positive cells of mutant testis. FOXL2-positive cells in mutant testis resemble granulosa cells: they lack the tripartite nucleoli of Sertoli cells, have smaller and more rounded nuclei, and have more punctate DAPI staining. UBC-cre/ERT2 also deletes Dmrt1 in germ cells, causing precocious meiosis12; after one month germ cells are nearly absent. Scale bars: 20 μm.