FIG 2.

Expression of steroidogenic enzyme genes in wild-type and Celf1^−/− males. (A) Pathway of sex steroid synthesis. The CYP17A1 protein has two sequential enzymatic activities, but the intermediate products were omitted for clarity. (B) Quantification of the indicated mRNAs by RT-qPCR in the testes of wild-type and Celf1^−/− littermates. (C) (Left) Representative Western blot of testis extracts from Celf1^−/− or Celf1^+/+ mice with antibodies against HSD3B6 and TUBB (loading control). (Right) Quantification of the HSD3B6/TUBB ratios from Western blots performed with 7 wild-type and Celf1^−/− testis extracts. (D) Aromatase activities in microsomal fractions of testes measured by a tritiated-water release assay. (E) Quantification of the abundance of Cyp19a1 pre-mRNA using primers directed against the indicated intron (I)-exon (E) junctions. In all panels, gray bars represent wild-type mice, and white bars represent Celf1^−/− mice. The P values of Wilcoxon signed rank tests below 0.1 are shown. n, number of pairs of wild-type and Celf1^−/− littermates.