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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
A Seminiferous Tubule Squash Technique for the Cytological Analysis of Spermatogenesis Using the Mouse Model
Published on: February 6, 2018
Testis atrophy and reduced sperm motility in transgenic mice overexpressing c-FLIP(L)
Fabrizio Antonangeli1, Simonetta Petrungaro, Pierpaolo Coluccia
1Department of Histology and Medical Embryology, Istituto Pasteur-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Objective:
To study the effect of c-FLIP overexpression in testicular germ cells.
Design:
A novel transgenic mouse model overexpressing the apoptotic modulator c-FLIP in the testis was generated.
Setting:
Animal facility and university research laboratory.
Animal(S):
Transgenic mice overexpressing the long isoform of c-FLIP (c-FLIP(L)) under the transcriptional control of a 400 bp long regulatory region of the Stra8 promoter.
Intervention(S):
Spermatozoa motility and testis histological, immunohistochemical, and Western blot analyses were carried out in transgenic and control derived specimens.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Testis morphology, sperm motility, and germ cell apoptosis were assayed.
Results:
Stra8 promoter was found to activate the ectopic overexpression of c-FLIP(L) in round and elongated spermatids. As a consequence of such overexpression, a dramatic loss of germ cells was observed, resulting in testicular atrophy associated with reduced sperm motility.
Conclusion(S):
The data show that c-FLIP(L) forced expression in haploid male germ cells has detrimental effects on spermatogenesis and sperm quality and reveal a possible mechanism underlying the onset of testicular atrophy.
