Sin3a is required by sertoli cells to establish a niche for undifferentiated spermatogonia, germ cell tumors, and spermatid elongation.

ABSTRACT: Microenvironments support the maintenance of stem cells and the growth of tumors through largely unknown mechanisms. While cell-autonomous chromatin modifications have emerged as important determinants for self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells, a role for non-cell autonomous epigenetic contributions is not well established. Here, we genetically ablated the chromatin modifier Swi-independent 3a (Sin3a) in fetal Sertoli cells, which partly comprise the niche for male germline stem cells, and investigated its impact on spermatogenic cell fate and teratoma formation in vivo. Sertoli cell-specific Sin3a deletion resulted in the formation of few undifferentiated spermatogonia after birth while initially maintaining spermatogenic differentiation. Stem cell-associated markers Plzf, Gfra1,

SUBMITTER: Payne CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3174062 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature