The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Turek Clinic, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 May 12;13:895528. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.895528. eCollection 2022.
Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are a group of adult stem cells in the testis that serve as the foundation of continuous spermatogenesis and male fertility. SSCs are capable of self-renewal to maintain the stability of the stem cell pool and differentiation to produce mature spermatozoa. Dysfunction of SSCs leads to male infertility. Therefore, dissection of the regulatory network of SSCs is of great significance in understanding the fundamental molecular mechanisms of spermatogonial stem cell function in spermatogenesis and the pathogenesis of male infertility. Furthermore, a better understanding of SSC biology will allow us to culture and differentiate SSCs , which may provide novel stem cell-based therapy for assisted reproduction. This review summarizes the latest research progress on the regulation of SSCs, and the potential application of SSCs for fertility restoration through and spermatogenesis. We anticipate that the knowledge gained will advance the application of SSCs to improve male fertility. Furthermore, spermatogenesis from SSCs sets the stage for the production of SSCs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and subsequent spermatogenesis.
精原干细胞（SSCs）是睾丸中的一组成体干细胞，是持续精子发生和男性生育力的基础。SSCs 具有自我更新能力，可维持干细胞池的稳定性，并分化产生成熟的精子。SSCs 功能障碍会导致男性不育。因此，解析 SSCs 的调控网络对于理解精子发生中精原干细胞功能的基本分子机制以及男性不育症的发病机制具有重要意义。此外，对 SSCs 生物学的更好理解将使我们能够培养和分化 SSCs，这可能为辅助生殖提供新的基于干细胞的治疗方法。本综述总结了 SSCs 调控的最新研究进展，以及通过 和 精子发生恢复生育力的 SSCs 的潜在应用。我们预计，所获得的知识将促进 SSCs 在提高男性生育力方面的应用。此外，从 SSCs 产生精子发生为从诱导多能干细胞（iPSCs）产生 SSCs 并随后进行精子发生奠定了基础。
