Fig. 5

Testicular section of 100 days old adult mice showed normal spermatogenesis. Tubules had well-defined basement membrane and lumen was filled with sperm. Spermatogenic and Sertoli cells were clearly visible (a). Aged (>12 months old) mice showed testicular atrophy and suppressed spermatogenesis (b–i). Significant hyperplasia of the interstitial compartment is evident (f). Tubules were tightly packed with disrupted spermatogenesis (b, e, g–i). Small=sized, darkly stained, spherical cells were evident along the basement membrane of the tubules (c–f). At places they were seen as doublets or chains (c, d). The balance between proliferation and differentiation was affected possibly because the niche provided by the Sertoli cells gets affected with age and thus is unable to support spermatogenesis efficiently [20]. Scale: 20 μm