Fig. 4.

Normal sex steroid hormone levels in cFOS null mice. A–D, Total RNA was extracted from 6-week-old mice, 5 male and 5 female per WT or KO group, reverse transcribed, and the level of gene expression was assayed by real-time PCR. In each sample, the amount of mRNA of interest was compared to the amount of Gapdh, and presented as a ratio. Light bars, wild type (WT); black bars, cFOS nulls (KO). Results are presented as the group mean ± SEM and asterisks (*) indicate significant difference in the expression in the cFOS-null animals from the wild type animals. E, Primary granulosa cell cultures from 6-week-old wild-type (WT) and null female (KO) were treated with 50 ng/ml ovine FSH for 1 hour, to elicit an increase in intracellular cAMP levels. The experiment was repeated 3 times and results, presented as the mean ± SEM, indicate no difference between phenotypes. F–G, Serum estradiol and testosterone levels from 6-week-old mice (5 per group) exhibit no difference between phenotypes.