Figure 7.
Exogenous T restores mating behavior and spermatogenesis in LeyNrg1KO mice. A, Mating behavior (plug formation) of Nrg1flox/flox (WT) male or LeyNrg1KO (KO) male mice was analyzed either at 1 week after the daily injections of saline (control) or T (T4) or at 1 week after cessation of hormone treatment (T4 removal). At each time interval, each male was housed separately with a WT eCG-hCG-treated female and plug formation evaluated (n = 3 male mice in each treatment group. Values are presented as the mean ± SEM of three replicates. B, The percentage of oocytes containing two pronuclear per total number of oocytes recovered from the oviducts of WT females at 16 hours after hCG injection and mated with WT or mutant male mice. Values are presented as the mean ± SEM of three different female mice. C and D, Testis weight (c) and epididymal weight (d) determined for WT and each treated group of LeyNrg1KO (KO) male mice. Values are mean ± SEM of three animals. E and F, The number of sperm (E) and the percentage of abnormal sperm (F) recovered from the epididymis. Values are mean ± SEM of three animals. G, The number of germ cells at each stage of spermatogenesis per Sertoli cell in WT and each treated group of LeyNrg1KO (KO) male mice. Values are represented as the mean ± SEM of three different testes in each genotype.