Immature porcine Sertoli cells have been reported to be targets for the regulatory peptide somatostatin (SRIF), which inhibits the basal and FSH-induced proliferation of Sertoli cells through a decrease of cAMP production. In the present study, we show that SRIF inhibits both basal and FSH-stimulated expression of the stem cell factor (SCF), a Sertoli cell-specific gene. The SRIF-mediated inhib...

Zebrafish spermatogonial cell cultures were established from Tg(piwil1:neo);Tg(piwil1:DsRed) transgenic fish using a zebrafish ovarian feeder cell line (OFC3) that was engineered to express zebrafish Lif, Fgf2 and Gdnf. Primary cultures, initiated from testes, were treated with G418 to eliminate the somatic cells and select for the piwil1:neo expressing spermatogonia. Addition of dorsomorphin, ...

Aging and short photoperiod exposure induce germ cell apoptosis in the Syrian hamster; however, the specific germ cells affected and the molecular pathways triggered have not been elucidated. We analyzed germ cell apoptosis and the expression of the Fas/Fas-L system, Bcl-2 family, and p53 in aged and photoinhibited hamsters and compared with those young maintained in natural photoperiod. Aging ...

Mice conceived 6 weeks after paternal exposure to ionizing radiation were fathered by sperm that were Type B spermatogonia at the time of irradiation. Previous studies of these offspring showed that this paternal F0 germ cell irradiation led to decreased embryonic cell proliferation rates, altered enzyme activities, protein levels and whole-body weights. In the present study, we examined four g...

Dye coupling experiments were performed to determine whether the gap junctions connecting Sertoli cells with other Sertoli cells and different germ cell stages in rats showed functional variations. Chop loading of adult rat seminiferous tubules was conducted using fluorescent dextran controls and a variety of low-molecular-weight tracers (lucifer yellow, biotin-X-cadaverine, biotin cadaverine, ...

Different cellular events occur during spermatogenesis, and these include (i) mitosis for self-renewal of spermatogonia, (ii) differentiation of type A spermatogonia into type B and commitment of type B spermatogonia to develop into preleptotene primary spermatocytes, (iii) transit of preleptotene/leptotene spermatocytes across the blood-testis barrier in coordination with germ cell cycle progr...

BACKGROUND Although early development of testes appears normal in boys with Klinefelter syndrome (KS), spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) depletion occurs in mid puberty, leading to infertility. Cryopreservation of SSCs prior to stem cell loss is an option that is currently offered to boys who have to undergo gonadotoxic treatments. This study aimed to explore the possibility of preserving SSCs in ...

Normal spermatogenesis and the effects of X-radiation on the male locust germ cells have been studied with the aid of light and electron microscopy. Adult insects were irradiated with doses of 100-500 rad (i.e. 1-5 J kg") and subsequently examined, at intervals, up to 55 days later. In secondary spermatogonia all doses caused nuclear fragmentation and necrosis, and in primary spermatogonia and ...

background: spermatogonial stem cells (sscs) are infrequentself-renewing cells among the type a spermatogoniawithin the seminiferous tubules and are the basis of spermatogenesisin mammalian testis. an adequate number of sscs is aprimary requirement for the study of their behavior, regulation, andfurther biomanipulation. objectives: in this paper, we studiedthe development of the primary co-cult...