Leydig Cells in Spermatogenesis-Deficient Testes Experience Stress, but Proliferate to Enhance Testosterone Synthesis I

We investigated somatic cell dynamics in testicular tissue lacking spermatogenesis using model mice with testis-specific deletion of the histone H3 variant gene H3t. Leydig cells in testes lacking spermatogenesis led to increased testosterone synthesis that occurred alongside a high inflammatory response and oxidative stress. We generated H3t deletion mice that were used for testis section transcriptomics and spatial transcriptomics analyses of Leydig cells in testes with disruption of spermatogenesis.