FIGURE 5.

α4s is specifically expressed in meiotic and postmeiotic male germ cells. A and B, cross-sections of seminiferous tubules in stage I (A) and stage VII (B) from adult mice were stained with anti-α4s antibody (green), anti-Sycp3 antibody (red), and DAPI (blue). White broken lines, the edge of seminiferous tubules; arrowheads, interstitial cells; asterisks, nonspecific signals; Pl, preleptotene spermatocyte; P, pachytene spermatocyte; RS, round spermatid; ES, elongating spermatid. Scale bar = 50 μm. C, Sertoli cells and germ cells were isolated and subjected to immunoblotting with the indicated antibodies. D, expression of α4s in the testis during mouse postnatal development was analyzed by immunoblotting. GPADH was used as a control. Asterisk, nonspecific bands. Data are representative of two independent experiments. E–G, the cross-sections of developing testes in D were immunostained with anti-α4s antibody (green) and anti-Sycp3 antibody (red). The open and filled arrowheads indicate the seminiferous tubules in which α4s was detected and not detected, respectively. White broken lines denote the edges of seminiferous tubules. Scale bars = 50 μm.