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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 68/3/1064    most recent biolreprod.102.009977v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Shinohara, T. Articles by Brinster, R. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Shinohara, T. Articles by Brinster, R. L. Agricola Articles by Shinohara, T. Articles by Brinster, R. L.

Restoration of Spermatogenesis in Infertile Mice by Sertoli Cell Transplantation¹

^a Department of Animal Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

The niche is considered to play an important role in stem cell biology. Sertoli cells are the only somatic cells in the seminiferous tubule that closely interact with germ cells to create a favorable environment for spermatogenesis. However, little is known about how Sertoli cells develop to form the male germ line niche. We report here that Sertoli cells recovered and dissociated from testes of donor male mice can be microinjected into recipient testes, form mature seminiferous tubule structures, and support spermatogenesis. Sertoli cells from perinatal donors had a dramatically greater capacity for generating seminiferous tubules than those from adult donors. Furthermore, transplantation of wild-type Sertoli cells into infertile Steel/Steel^dickie testes created a permissive testicular microenvironment for generating spermatogenesis and spermatozoa. Thus, our results demonstrate that the male germ line stem cell niche can be transferred between animals. In addition, the technique provides a novel tool with which to analyze spermatogenesis and might provide a mechanism for correcting fertility in males suffering from supporting cell defects.

¹ T.S. was supported by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science. Histological sections were produced in the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Human Gene Therapy Morphology Core (grant 5-P30-DK-47747-07). Financial support for the research was from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant 36504, the Commonwealth and General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

² Corespondence: R.L. Brinster, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3850 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104. FAX: 215 898 0667

³ Current address: Department of Medical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 606-8501

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