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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Determination of Reproductive Competence by Confirming Pubertal Onset and Performing a Fertility Assay in Mice and Rats
Published on: October 13, 2018
DNAJB7 is dispensable for male fertility in mice
Shun Bai1, Meihong Hu1, Lina Yu2
1Reproductive and Genetic Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, P. R. China.
Background:
DNAJBs are highly conserved proteins that are involved in various biological processes. Although several DNAJBs are highly expressed in the testis, the function of DNAJB7 in spermatogenesis and male fertility remains unclear.
Methods:
To identify the role of DNAJB7 in the male reproduction process, Dnajb7-deficient mice were generated by the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing system. Histological and immunofluorescence assays were performed to analyze the phenotype of the Dnajb7 mutants.
Results:
DNAJB7 is specifically expressed in haploid germ cells. Dnajb7 knockout mice are fertile and do not have any detectable defects in Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, meiotic and postmeiotic cells, indicating that DNAJB7 is not essential for spermatogenesis.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that DNAJB7 is dispensable for male fertility in mice, which could prevent duplicative work by other groups.
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