Figure 3.

UTJ migration and ZP binding assay of spermatozoa from Tmprss12^del/del mice. (A) Litter size (number of pup/litter) results of the mating test. WT and Tmprss12^del/del mice were mated with 3 WT females per male. The litter size of WT males is 8.17 ± 0.14 pups/litter. (B) Uteri and oviducts from WT females mated with WT and Tmprss12^del/del males carrying fluorescent protein-tagged spermatozoa. Spermatozoa from Tmprss12^del/del mice fail to pass through the UTJ. Photographs were taken 4 h after coitus. Right figures are magnified images of the boxes indicated in the left figures. Scale bars: 1 mm (left) and 500 μm (right). (C) Observation of ZP binding in spermatozoa from WT and Tmprss12^del/del mice. Spermatozoa from Tmprss12^del/del mice have impaired ZP binding ability in vitro. Scale bars: 50 μm. (D) Immunoblot analysis of ADAM3 using TGC and cauda epididymal spermatozoa from Tmprss12^d8/d8 and Tmprss12^del/del mice. The mature form of ADAM3 was disrupted in Tmprss12 KO spermatozoa.