Figure 1.

Disruption of Atg7 in oocytes led to female subfertility with follicle over-loss. (a) PCR confirmation of the Atg7^F/F;Tnap-cre mice. (b) Subfertility of the female Atg7^F/F;Tnap-cre mice. Both Atg7^F/F (n=6) and Atg7^F/F;Tnap-cre (n=5) females were mated with wild-type males; continuous breeding assessment showed the cumulative number of progeny per female mouse. Asterisk indicates statistically significant difference in comparison with Atg7^F/F. (c) The first litter size of Atg7^F/F (n=6) and Atg7^F/F;Tnap-cre (n=5) females. (d) Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining of ovaries from 6-month-old mice of each genotype. CL, corpus luteum. (e) Quantification of the follicle numbers in ovaries of Atg7^F/F (n=6) and Atg7^F/F;Tnap-cre (n=5) mice at 6 months of age. Data are presented as the mean±S.E.M. *P<0.05, **P<0.01