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To investigate changes in spermatogenesis with aging, we reconstructed the seminiferous tubules of 12 mice aged 12 to 30\u00a0months from serial sections and examined age-related and region-specific alterations in the seminiferous epithelium and spermatogenic waves in three dimensions. The basic structure of the seminiferous tubules, including the numbers of tubules, terminating points, branching points, and total tubule length, did not change with age. Age-related alterations in spermatogenesis, primarily assessed by the formation of vacuoles in Sertoli cells, were detected in the seminiferous tubules at 12\u00a0months. The proportion of altered tubule segments with impaired spermatogenesis further increased by 24\u00a0months, but remained unchanged thereafter. Altered tubule segments were preferentially distributed in tubule areas close to the rete testis and those in the center of the testis. Spermatogenic waves became shorter in length with age. These results provide a basis for examining the decline of spermatogenesis not only with aging, but also in male infertility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-02443-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,26]],"date-time":"2021-11-26T06:02:47Z","timestamp":1637906567000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Three-dimensional morphological analysis of spermatogenesis in aged mouse testes"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Taito","family":"Nakano","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiroki","family":"Nakata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suguru","family":"Kadomoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiroaki","family":"Iwamoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hiroshi","family":"Yaegashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Masashi","family":"Iijima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shohei","family":"Kawaguchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Takahiro","family":"Nohara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kazuyoshi","family":"Shigehara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kouji","family":"Izumi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yoshifumi","family":"Kadono","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Atsushi","family":"Mizokami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"2443_CR1","unstructured":"Russell, L. 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