Fig. 1

Expression pattern of Eg5 proteins in mouse testes and the establishment of the mouse model. a The spatiotemporal distribution of Eg5 proteins (green), β-tubulin (red) and DAPI (blue) at different stages of mouse seminiferous tubules. Representative images of stage I, IV–VI, VII, IX, X and XII were shown. Arrows indicate the fluorescent signals of Eg5 proteins. sg, spermatogonia; sc, spermatocytes; st, spermatids. Scale bar, 10 μm. b Graphical model of the testicular injection. Monastrol, STLC and Dimethylenastron were injected into the right testes of 6-week-old ICR mice at final concentrations of 50 μM, 10 μM and 20 μM, respectively. The inhibitors were injected every 3 days for 5 times. c, d Morphology of the male genital tract from the Control and Monastrol groups and the testes from the Control, Monastrol, STLC and Dimethylenastron groups. T (testis), SV (seminal vesicle), VP (ventral prostate), VD (vas deferens), EP (epididymis) and UB (urinary bladder). Scale bar, 10 mm. The mice from C–D were age matched. e, f Statistical analyses of the testis weight and the ratios of testis weight/body weight in the Control, Monastrol, STLC and Dimethylenastron groups. n = 8, 11, 3, 3. Student’s t-test. Error bars, mean ± SEM. ns, p > 0.05 and *, p < 0.05