Fig. 2. XY Fgf9–/– gonads show elevated levels
of germ cell death between 11.5 and 12.5 dpc. Germ cells are stained for
E-Cadherin (blue), whereas laminin (green) labels the basal lamina of testis
cords. Cell death is labeled by LysoTracker Red DND-99 (red). XX and XY
Fgf9+/– gonads show low basal levels of cell death
at both 11.5 dpc (A,G), 12.0 dpc (B,H) and 12.5
dpc (C,I). XX Fgf9–/– gonads
contain similar low levels at 11.5 dpc (D), 12.0 dpc (E) and
12.5 dpc (F). XY Fgf9–/– gonads show
significantly increased levels of dying germ cells at stages 11.5 to 12.5 dpc
(J-L; P<0.05. g, gonad; m, mesonephros. Broken line
indicates boundary of gonad and mesonephros. Figures are representative of
three independent experiments of n
3 each. Scale bar: 50
µm.