Figure 2.

The lack of BT-IgSF leads to spermatogenic arrest. A, qRT-PCR analysis of meiotic genes from testis lysates of wild-type and BT-IgSF knock-out mice. Gene expression was normalized to Rplp0 and indicated as fold change to WT. Piwil2 was used as a marker for stem cells, HoxA4 and Cdc25c were used as markers for mid-pachytene stage and late pachytene stage, for overall pachytene stage SycP3 was used, for meiotic germ cells Dazl was used, and for the postmeiotic haploid stages Prm1 and Akap4 were used (n = 4 per genotype). The data are shown as means ± S.D. n.s., not significant; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001 (t test). The scheme illustrates the pattern of expression of genes investigated during germ maturation. B, immunofluorescence staining of cryosections against γH2AX and SYCP3. Arrows, leptotene stage; arrowheads, diplotene stage; scale bar, 20 μm.