van den Driesche Sander, Sharpe Richard M, Saunders Philippa T K, Mitchell Rod T
MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2014 May;29:76-83. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2014.04.006. Epub 2014 Apr 6.
Within the testis the spermatogonial stem cells reside in a unique microenvironment, or 'niche', which includes the surrounding somatic cells. The regulation of the balance between self-renewal and differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells determines the lifelong supply of spermatozoa by maintaining a population of undifferentiated spermatogonial stem cells and ensuring that adequate numbers of spermatogonia undergo spermatogenesis. Mouse models have been instrumental in determining a large number of factors involved in regulating the spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal and/or differentiation. However, the precise mechanisms controlling regulation of the germ cell niche remain to be elucidated. Recently the discovery of microRNAs, which regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, has provided new insight into testis biology, spermatogenesis and germ stem cell regulation. In this review we summarize the main factors involved in the regulation of the germ stem cell niche and describe the role of microRNA signaling in this regulation.
在睾丸内，精原干细胞存在于一个独特的微环境或“龛”中，该微环境包括周围的体细胞。精原干细胞自我更新与分化之间平衡的调节，通过维持未分化精原干细胞群体并确保足够数量的精原细胞进行精子发生，决定了精子的终身供应。小鼠模型在确定大量参与调节精原干细胞自我更新和/或分化的因素方面发挥了重要作用。然而，控制生殖细胞龛调节的精确机制仍有待阐明。最近，在转录后水平调节基因表达的微小RNA的发现，为睾丸生物学、精子发生和生殖干细胞调节提供了新的见解。在这篇综述中，我们总结了参与调节生殖干细胞龛的主要因素，并描述了微小RNA信号在这种调节中的作用。
