title: Dispensable role of PTEN in mouse spermatogenesis.
abstract: PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten) plays critical roles in multiple cellular processes, including cell proliferation, survival, migration and transformation. A role of PTEN in mammalian spermatogenesis, however, has not been explored. To address this question, we generated a mouse model with PTEN conditional knockout in postnatal male germ cells. We found that spermatogenesis was normal in PTEN-deleted male germ cells. PTEN conditional mutant males produced sperm and sired offspring as competently as wild-type littermates. Moreover, our biochemical analysis also indicated that the Akt (acutely transforming retrovirus AKT8 in rodent T cell lymphoma) signalling pathway was not affected in mutant testis. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that PTEN is dispensable in mouse spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boyce
authors.forename: Guo-Zhang
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis
chemical_list: D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C487757:Pten protein, mouse