Fig 7. Testicular parameters and morphological appearance of testes displaying cell-specific Dmxl2 KO from seven-week-old mice.

(A) Sperm parameters of testes with a Dmxl2 cell-specific KO. Epididymal sperm concentration in germ cell cKO (Dmxl2^loxP/-; Vasa-Cre) testes was 71% lower than that in control testes (Dmxl2^loxP/loxP) (pValue = 0.021), and that in Sertoli and germ cell dcKO (Dmxl2^loxP/-; Vasa-Cre; Amh-Cre) testes was 61% lower than that in control testes (pValue = 0.035). No significant difference was detected between germ cell cKO and dcKO testes (pValue = 0.7429). The motility of the spermatozoa was unaffected. (B) Histological appearance and (C) stereological analyses of control, Sertoli cell cKO, germ cell cKO and Sertoli and germ cell dcKO (dcKO) testes. The fraction of the volume occupied by the Sertoli cell cytoplasm (c) in the lumen is 41.7% greater in Dmxl2 dcKO testes than in control testes (pValue = 0.02), whereas the lumen area fraction (l) presents a mirror-image 36.4% decrease (pValue = 0.001). A similar effect was observed in comparisons of germ cell cKO and control testes (pValues of 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). Slight differences in seminiferous epithelium thickness (se) were observed in Dmxl2 dcKO testes relative to control (pValue = 0.01). Significant differences are indicated by different letters.