Testicular endothelial cells promote self-renewal of spermatogonial stem cells in rats.

In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of various cell lines as a feeder layer for rat SSCs. Germ cells enriched for SSCs were cultured on feeder layers including SIM mouse embryo-derived thioguanine and ouabain-resistant cells, C166 cells, and mouse and rat testicular endothelial cells (TECs) and their stem cell potential for generating donor-derived colonies and offspring was assessed by transplantation into recipient testes. Rat germ cells cultured on TECs showed increased mRNA and protein levels of undifferentiated spermatogonial markers. Rat SSCs derived from these germ cells underwent spermatogenesis and generated offspring when transplanted into recipients. Collectively, TECs can serve as an effective feeder layer that enhances the proliferative and self-renewal capacity of cultured rat SSCs while preserving their stemness properties. PMID: 31187129 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Biology of Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Biol Reprod Source Type: research