Fig. 2

HE and TUNEL staining of testes and apoptotic protein expression in Pnpla5^−/− and Pnpla5^+/+ male rats. A HE and TUNEL staining of testicular tissue. Pnpla5^−/− testes appeared loose, disarranged histological structure, with detached epithelial cells. Red arrows indicate apoptotic cells. Scale bar = 50 μm. The TUNEL staining slides were counterstained with hematoxylin. B The number of apoptotic cells was significantly increased in testicular tissue of Pnpla5^−/− male rats. *** P < 0.001. C The expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins in the testicular tissue were measured by western blotting. β-actin was used as the internal reference. All data are presented as means ± standard deviation (SD)