Long-term health in recipients of transplanted in vitro propagated spermatogonial stem cells

This study was designed as a murine equivalent of a clinical prospective study design. Long-term follow-up was performed for mice who received a busulfan treatment followed by either an intratesticular transplantation ofin vitro propagated enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) positive SSCs (cases,n = 34) or no transplantation (control,n = 37). Using a power calculation, we estimated that 36 animals per group would be sufficient to provide an 80% power and with a 5% level of significance to demonstrate a 25% increase in cancer incidence in the transplanted group. The survival rate and cancer incidence was investigated until the age of 18 months.PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSNeonatal male B6D2F1 actin-eGFP transgenic mouse testis were used to initiate eGFP positive germline stem (GS) cell culture, which harbor SSCs. Six-week old male C57BL/6 J mice received a single dose busulfan treatment to deplete the testis from endogenous spermatogenesis. Half of these mice received a testicular transplantation of cultured eGFP positive GS cells, while the remainder of mice served as a control group. Mice were followed up until the age of 18 months (497 –517 days post-busulfan) or sacrificed earlier due to severe discomfort or illness. Survival data were collected. To evaluate cancer incidence a necropsy was performed and tissues were collected. eGFP signal in transplanted testis and in benign and malignant lesions was assessed by standard PCR.MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF ...
Source: Human Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: research