Fig. 1.

PSMA8 is expressed in spermatocytes from the pachytene stage. a Western blotting results showing the expression of PSMA7 (α4) and PSMA8 (α4s) during spermatogenesis. The anti-α sub antibody detects all α subunits of the 20S core proteasomes. MVH is a germ cell marker. The arrowhead indicates the specific band. The molecular weights (kDa) are indicated on the right. b Immunofluorescent staining of PSMA7 in sections of PD42 wild-type (WT) testes. The regions within the squares are enlarged on the right, and different types of cells were separated by dashed lines. Different stages of seminiferous tubules are shown. RS round spermatids, EP early pachynema, MP mid-pachynema, SG spermatogonia, Z zygonema, D diplonema. Three testes were analyzed. Scale bars, 25 μm. c Co-staining of PSMA8 (green) and SYCP3 (red) in sections of WT testes. The representative cell types are enlarged on the right and indicated by dashed circles. Sertoli Sertoli cells, ES elongated spermatid, PreL pre-leptonema, LP late pachynema, M M phase. Scale bar, 50 μm. d Immunofluorescent staining of PSMA8 (green) and SYCP3 (red) in sections from WT, Spo11^−/−, and Dmc1^−/− testes at PD21. “−” represents the knockout allele and therefore “−/−” means knockout. Scale bars, 25 μm