title: Distribution of the sex chromosome during mouse spermatogenesis in testis tissue sections.
abstract: During mammalian spermatogenesis, spermatogenic cells undergo mitotic division and are subsequently divided into haploid spermatids by meiotic division, but the dynamics of sex chromosomes during spermatogenesis are unclear in vivo. To gain insight into the distribution of sex chromosomes in the testis, we examined the localization of sex chromosomes before and after meiosis in mouse testis sections. Here, we developed a method of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using specific probes for the X and Y chromosomes to obtain their positional information in histological testis sections. FISH analysis revealed the sex chromosomal position during spermatogenesis in each stage of seminiferous epithelia and in each spermatogenic cell. In the spermatogonia and leptotene spermatocytes, sex chromosomes were distantly positioned in the cell. In the zygotene and pachytene spermatocytes at prophase I, X and Y chromosomes had a random distribution. After meiosis, the X and Y spermatids were random in every seminiferous epithelium. We also detected aneuploidy of sex chromosomes in spermatogenic cells using our developed FISH analysis. Our results provide further insight into the distribution of sex chromosomes during spermatogenesis, which could help to elucidate a specific difference between X and Y spermatids and sex chromosome-specific behavior.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Reproduction and Development, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Miyagi 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otaka
authors.forename: Yuuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiradate
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shirakata
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanemura
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D000818:Animals; D045584:Chromosome Positioning; D019286:Endopeptidase K / Q000378:metabolism; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D049469:Meiotic Prophase I; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D049471:Pachytene Stage; D059748:Proteolysis; D012670:Seminiferous Epithelium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013087:Spermatids / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000378:metabolism*; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019286:Endopeptidase K