{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T08:35:30Z","timestamp":1777710930877,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,2]],"date-time":"2022-12-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669939200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Research and Developmental Program of China","award":["2018YFC1003602"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFC1003602"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Spermatogenesis and sperm maturation are complex and highly ordered biological processes. Any failure or disorder in these processes can cause defects in sperm morphology, motility, and fertilization ability. Cathepsin B (CTSB) is involved in the regulation of a variety of pathological processes. In the present study, we found that CTSB was abundantly expressed in the male reproductive system, however, the specific role of CTSB in regulating spermatogenesis and sperm maturation remained elusive. Hence, we generated\n                    <jats:italic>Ctsb<\/jats:italic>\n                    <jats:sup>-\/-<\/jats:sup>\n                    mice using CRISPR\/Cas9 technology. In\n                    <jats:italic>Ctsb<\/jats:italic>\n                    <jats:sup>-\/-<\/jats:sup>\n                    mice, sperm count was significantly decreased while the level of morphologically abnormal sperm was markedly increased. Additionally, these mice had significantly lower levels of progressive motility sperm and elevated levels of immobilized sperm. Histological analysis showed slight vacuolization in the testis epithelium, as well as the loss of epididymal epithelium cells. Further investigation showed that autophagic activity was inhibited and apoptotic activity was increased in both the testis and epididymis of\n                    <jats:italic>Ctsb<\/jats:italic>\n                    <jats:sup>-\/-<\/jats:sup>\n                    mice. Together, our findings demonstrate that CTSB plays an important role in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation in mice.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.14472","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,2]],"date-time":"2022-12-02T03:52:35Z","timestamp":1669953155000},"page":"e14472","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Cathepsin B plays a role in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation through regulating autophagy and apoptosis in mice"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Zongzhuang","family":"Wen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Haixia","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Shandong University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bin","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Reproductive Medicine, Jinan Central Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aizhen","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Reproductive Medicine, Jinan Central Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hongxiang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Shandong University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yin","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Life Science and Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Shandong University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianyuan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Male Reproductive Health, Institute of Science and Technology, National Health Commission, Beijing, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Min","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiangang","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shandong First 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