Analysis Tools
reproductive system
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• females do not exhibit any obvious fertility abnormalities
• testes appear morphologically normal with no significant alterations in average testis size or weight; overall structure of seminiferous tubules and epididymides is largely normal
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• sperm midpiece is often disarranged
• however, the flagellar axoneme shows a normal 9 + 2 microtubular structure, with dynein arms clearly visible
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• the typical compact and structured sheath extending from the nucleus observed in wild-type controls is missing
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• severe mitochondrial dysplasia is often observed
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• many epididymal sperm tails are found coiled around the sperm head
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• number of spermatozoa released from the cauda epididymis is significantly reduced
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• although spermatids do not develop an acrosome, a pseudoacrosome-like structure consisting of saccules organized in a multi-layered fashion is occasionally observed in close proximity to the acroplaxome at the cap/acrosome phases
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• acrosome biogenesis is disrupted as early as in the Golgi phase, with spermatids showing a less uniform and sparser PNA staining with no formation of a single homogeneous structure
• in the cap phase, spermatids show a punctate PNA staining along the nuclear surface rather than the typical cap-like layer enveloping the nucleus seen in wild-type cells
• in the acrosome phase, PNA staining appears disarranged and absent in many cases; a similar pattern is also seen in the maturation phase
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• in round spermatids, proacrosomal vesicles accumulate close to the acroplaxome but fail to coalesce into a single acrosomal vesicle
• failure of proacrosomal vesicles to fuse is likely to result from some defect that precedes the fusion events, such as in the processing and formation of vesicles
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a malformed roundish head
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• all round-headed spermatozoa lack an acrosome
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a rounded nuclear shape
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a smaller head size
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• although some motile cells are observed, motility of epididymal spermatozoa is largely absent
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• epididymal spermatozoa are mostly immotile
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• round-headed spermatozoa that lack an acrosome are observed during the early stages of spermatid differentiation
• however, meiotic progression of spermatocytes and chromatid recombination during meiosis are largely normal
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• males are infertile despite the presence of vaginal plugs in females
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cellular
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• sperm midpiece is often disarranged
• however, the flagellar axoneme shows a normal 9 + 2 microtubular structure, with dynein arms clearly visible
|
|
|
• the typical compact and structured sheath extending from the nucleus observed in wild-type controls is missing
|
|
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• severe mitochondrial dysplasia is often observed
|
|
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• many epididymal sperm tails are found coiled around the sperm head
|
|
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• number of spermatozoa released from the cauda epididymis is significantly reduced
|
|
|
• although spermatids do not develop an acrosome, a pseudoacrosome-like structure consisting of saccules organized in a multi-layered fashion is occasionally observed in close proximity to the acroplaxome at the cap/acrosome phases
|
|
|
• acrosome biogenesis is disrupted as early as in the Golgi phase, with spermatids showing a less uniform and sparser PNA staining with no formation of a single homogeneous structure
• in the cap phase, spermatids show a punctate PNA staining along the nuclear surface rather than the typical cap-like layer enveloping the nucleus seen in wild-type cells
• in the acrosome phase, PNA staining appears disarranged and absent in many cases; a similar pattern is also seen in the maturation phase
|
|
|
• in round spermatids, proacrosomal vesicles accumulate close to the acroplaxome but fail to coalesce into a single acrosomal vesicle
• failure of proacrosomal vesicles to fuse is likely to result from some defect that precedes the fusion events, such as in the processing and formation of vesicles
|
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a malformed roundish head
|
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• all round-headed spermatozoa lack an acrosome
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a rounded nuclear shape
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• all epididymal spermatozoa exhibit a smaller head size
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• although some motile cells are observed, motility of epididymal spermatozoa is largely absent
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• epididymal spermatozoa are mostly immotile
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