GDNF-expressing STO feeder layer supports the long-term propagation of undifferentiated mouse spermatogonia with stem cell properties.

ABSTRACT: The development of a stem cell culture system would expedite our understanding of the biology of tissue regeneration. Spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) is the foundation for lifelong male spermatogenesis and the SSC culture has been optimized continuously in recent years. However, there have been many inconveniences to reconstruct SSC self-renewal and proliferation in vitro, such as the frequent refreshment of recombinant cytokines, including GDNF, the essential growth factor for SSC maintenance. In the present study, we observed that both STO and MEF cells, which were previously used as feeders for SSC growth, did not express GDNF, but a GDNF-expressing STO feeder could support undifferentiated mouse spermatogonia propagation in vitro for three months without the refreshment of recombinant g

SUBMITTER: Wei X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5101510 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature