Fig. 1

PICK1 loss-of-function deletion mutations in male infertility patients with oligoasthenospermia. (A) Schematic of PICK1. Yellow boxes represent the coding exons; black arrow indicates the mutation identified in this study. (B) Verification of c.358delA and c.364delA mutations by Sanger sequencing. (C) The c.358delA mutation caused the stop codon. (D) The truncation of the PICK1 protein caused by c.358delA mutation. (E) The testicles of PICK1 KO mouse were significantly smaller than those of wild-type mouse. (F) The level of inhibin B secreted by Sertoli cells was the lowest in PICK1 KO mouse and was lower than that in heterozygous mouse and wild-type mouse. (G) HE staining at 20X magnification showed that the lumen of seminiferous tubules was enlarged and germ cells were reduced