Temperature sensitivity of DNA double-strand break repair underpins heat-induced meiotic failure in mouse spermatogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian spermatogenesis is a heat-vulnerable process that occurs at low temperatures, and elevated testicular temperatures cause male infertility. However, the current reliance on in vivo assays limits their potential to detail temperature dependence and destructive processes. Using ex vivo cultures of mouse testis explants at different controlled temperatures, we found that spermatogenesis failed at multiple steps, showing sharp temperature dependencies. At 38 °C (body core temperature), meiotic prophase I is damaged, showing increased DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and compromised DSB repair. Such damaged spermatocytes cause asynapsis between homologous chromosomes and are eliminated by apoptosis at the meiotic checkpoint. At 37 °C, some spermatocytes survive to the late pachytene sta

SUBMITTER: Hirano K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9135715 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature