Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, UNAM, Apartado Postal 70228, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México 04510, México.
Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Centro de Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Santa Maria Acuitlapilco, México.
Reprod Fertil Dev. 2024 Jul;36. doi: 10.1071/RD23190.
Context A population of sperm progenitor cells, known as Asingle spermatogonia, has been described in mammalian testes. During division cycles in spermatogenesis, some cells will form part of the Asingle spermatogonia group, while others form primary spermatocytes. Thus, during spermatogenesis, spermatogonia are the progenitor cells of spermatozoa. Aims In this study, we characterise the spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in the testicles of Artibeus jamaicensis and Sturnira lilium bats. The knowledge generated from this will contribute to the understanding of the biology of germ cells and the mechanisms of spermatogenesis in mammals, generating information on wildlife species that are important for biodiversity. Methods Testes were analysed by light and electron microscopy. Likewise, the expression of specific factors of stem cells (Oct4 and C-kit), germ cells (Vasa), cell proliferation (pH3 and SCP1) and testicular somatic cells (MIS, 3βHSD and Sox9) was characterised by immunofluorescence and western blot. Key results The histological analysis enabled the location of type Asingle, Apaired and Aaligned spermatogonia in the periphery of the seminiferous tubules adjacent to Sertoli cells. The expression of genes of stem and germ cells made it possible to corroborate the distribution of the SSCs. Conclusions Results indicate that type Asingle spermatogonia were not randomly distributed, since proliferative activity was detected in groups of cells adjacent to the seminiferous tubules membrane, suggesting the localisation of spermatogonial niches in a specific region of testes. Implications This study provides evidence for the existence of SSCs in the testis of chiropterans that contribute to the renewal of germline progenitor cells to maintain the reproduction of the organisms.
精原干细胞在哺乳动物睾丸中被描述为一群精子前体细胞，称为 A 型精原细胞。在精子发生的分裂周期中，一些细胞将形成 A 型精原细胞群体的一部分，而另一些细胞则形成初级精母细胞。因此，在精子发生过程中，精原细胞是精子的祖细胞。本研究旨在描述 Artibeus jamaicensis 和 Sturnira lilium 蝙蝠睾丸中的精原干细胞（SSC）。从这项研究中获得的知识将有助于理解生殖细胞的生物学和哺乳动物精子发生的机制，为对生物多样性很重要的野生动物物种提供信息。方法通过光镜和电镜分析睾丸。同样，通过免疫荧光和蛋白质印迹法研究了干细胞（Oct4 和 C-kit）、生殖细胞（Vasa）、细胞增殖（pH3 和 SCP1）和睾丸体细胞（MIS、3βHSD 和 Sox9）的特定因子的表达。主要结果组织学分析使我们能够在靠近支持细胞的生精小管周围定位 A 型、A 型配对和 A 型排列的精原细胞。干细胞和生殖细胞基因的表达使我们能够证实 SSC 的分布。结论结果表明，A 型精原细胞并非随机分布，因为在靠近生精小管膜的细胞群中检测到增殖活性，提示精原细胞龛位于睾丸的特定区域。意义本研究为翼手目动物睾丸中存在 SSC 提供了证据，这有助于生殖细胞祖细胞的更新，以维持生物体的繁殖。
