Effects of knockout on energy chain transportation and spermatogenesis: implications for male infertility.

Study Question: Is the mutation causative for male infertility?

Summary Answer: Our collected data underline the complex and devastating effect of the single-gene mutation on the testicular molecular network, leading to male reproductive failure.

What Is Known Already: Recent data have revealed mutations in genes related to axonemal dynein arms as causative for morphology and motility abnormalities in spermatozoa of infertile males, including dysplasia of fibrous sheath (DFS) and multiple morphological abnormalities in the sperm flagella (MMAF). The nexin-dynein regulatory complex (N-DRC) coordinates the dynein arm activity and is built from the DRC1-DRC7 proteins.

Pattern Distribution of Connexins in the Ortho- and Parakeratinized Epithelium of the Lingual Mucosa in Birds.

Connexins are important proteins involved in cell-to-cell communication and cytodifferentiation during renewal and cornification of the multilayered epithelia. So far, there is a lack of reports on this subject in birds' structurally different ortho- and parakeratinized epithelium of the tongue. The study aims to describe the distribution and expression profiles of the α-connexins (Cx40 and 43) and β-connexins (Cx26, 30, and 31) in those epithelia in duck, goose, and domestic turkey.

Distribution and length of muscle spindles and their 3D visualisation in the medial gastrocnemius of male and female rats.

The spatial distribution of the medial gastrocnemius muscle spindles of 10 male and 10 female rats was analysed under a light microscope, and for the first time, visualised using a 3D model of the muscle. Serial cross-sections of the medial gastrocnemius muscles were separated into 10 divisions along with the proximo-distal axis. The muscle spindles of the rat medial gastrocnemius were predominantly distributed on the proximo-medial divisions of the muscle.

Alpha-Keratin, Keratin-Associated Proteins and Transglutaminase 1 Are Present in the Ortho- and Parakeratinized Epithelium of the Avian Tongue.

The lingual mucosa in birds is covered with two specific types of multilayered epithelia, i.e., the para- and orthokeratinized epithelium, that differ structurally and functionally.