Rodriguez-Sosa Jose R, Dobrinski Ina
School of Veterinary Medicine, Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research, New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
Reproduction. 2009 Aug;138(2):187-94. doi: 10.1530/REP-09-0012. Epub 2009 Apr 16.
Development of the mammalian testis and spermatogenesis involve complex processes of cell migration, proliferation, differentiation, and cell-cell interactions. Although our knowledge of these processes has increased in the last few decades, many aspects still remain unclear. The lack of suitable systems that allow to recapitulate and manipulate both testis development and spermatogenesis ex situ has limited our ability to study these processes. In the last few years, two observations suggested novel strategies that will improve our ability to study and manipulate mammalian spermatogenesis: i) testis tissue from immature animals transplanted ectopically into immunodeficient mice is able to respond to mouse gonadotropins and to initiate and complete differentiation to the level where fertilization-competent sperm are obtained, and ii) isolated testis cells are able to organize and rearrange into seminiferous cords that subsequently undergo complete development, including production of viable sperm. The current paper reviews recent advances that have been obtained with both techniques that represent novel opportunities to explore testis development and spermatogenesis in diverse mammalian species.
哺乳动物睾丸的发育和精子发生涉及细胞迁移、增殖、分化以及细胞间相互作用等复杂过程。尽管在过去几十年里我们对这些过程的了解有所增加，但许多方面仍不清楚。缺乏能够在体外重现和操纵睾丸发育及精子发生的合适系统，限制了我们研究这些过程的能力。在过去几年中，两项观察结果提示了新的策略，有望提高我们研究和操纵哺乳动物精子发生的能力：其一，将未成熟动物的睾丸组织异位移植到免疫缺陷小鼠体内，该组织能够对小鼠促性腺激素作出反应，并启动和完成分化，直至获得具备受精能力的精子；其二，分离的睾丸细胞能够组织并重新排列形成生精小管，随后经历完整的发育过程，包括产生有活力的精子。本文综述了利用这两种技术所取得的最新进展，它们为探索不同哺乳动物物种的睾丸发育和精子发生提供了新机会。
