Effect of SMAD3 knockout on the reproduction of male mice / 基础医学与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of SMAD3 knockout on the reproduction of male mice.Methods Adult wild type females were mated with knockout or wild type males;Testis were performed with HE and TUNEL staining;Cauda epididymal sperms were counted and analyzed with morphology and motility.Results Wild-type / knock-out pairs resulted in a pregnancy rate of 92% with an average litter size of 5.45? 0.78 and a live birth rate of(87?19)%.In the wild-type / wild-type pairs,100% females were pregnant,the litter size was 6.01? 1.03,and the live rate was(97?15)%,there was no significant difference between the two groups.Histological analysis showed a relatively normal spermatogenesis in knockout testis,and TUNEL analysis did not demonstrate more apoptotic cells in knock-out testis.The cauda epididymal sperm number was normal,and there was no obvious difference in the sperm motility and morphology in the knock-out males.Conclusion The function of SMAD3 can be compensated in male reproduction.