Germ cell-specific depletion of miRNAs in GC-Dcr1 and GC-Dgcr8 mutant testes.

<p>(A) Schematic representation of <i>Dicer1</i> and <i>Dgcr8</i> loci. Exon 24 of the <i>Dicer1</i> gene is flanked with loxP sites (grey triangles) and excision occurs upon <i>Ddx4-Cre</i> recombinase expression leading to loss of the RNaseIII domain 2. Excision of exon 3 of the <i>Dgcr8</i> locus leads to a sequence frameshift and introduces multiple premature STOP codons. (B) Histograms showing the absence of expression of spermatocyte-specific miRNAs in GC-Dgcr8 and GC-Dcr1 mutant total testes. In contrast, expression of Sertoli cell-specific miRNAs in both mutants was not affected (C). Results are mean ± SEM, * = p<0.05, ** = p<0.005, *** = p<0.0001 GC-Dcr1 mutant vs. control, GC-Dgcr8 mutant vs. control or GC-Dcr1 vs. GC-Dgcr8.