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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Enrichment of Pachytene Spermatocytes and Spermatids from Mouse Testes Using Standard Laboratory Equipment
Published on: September 17, 2019
Polyamines in spermatocytes and residual bodies of rat testis
Masashi Shin1, Lars-Inge Larsson, Kunio Fujiwara
1Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Biotechnology and Life Science, Sojo University, Ikeda 4-22-1, Kumamoto, 860-0082, Japan.
Abstract:
Immunocytochemistry for polyamines in the rat testis revealed intense staining of small bodies close to the lumen of seminiferous tubules of spermatogenic stage VII and VIII as well as of spermatocytes. Methyl green-pyronin and propidium iodide staining combined with DNase or RNase predigestion showed that the small bodies contained RNA, but not DNA and double fluorescence staining showed that polyamines (PAs) colocalized with RNA in the bodies. Electron microscopy confirmed the absence of nuclei in the bodies and revealed that PA immunoreactivity was associated with ribosomes. These results strongly suggest that the small bodies correspond to the residual bodies, and agree with previous results showing localization of PAs to ribosomes in neurons and gastrointestinal epithelial cells. The accumulation of PAs in residual bodies may reflect a termination of their role in spermiogenesis with respect to protein synthesis.
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