Directing differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells toward androgen-producing Leydig cells rather than adrenal cells.

ABSTRACT: Reduced serum testosterone (T), or hypogonadism, affects millions of men and is associated with many pathologies, including infertility, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and decreased libido and sexual function. Administering T-replacement therapy (TRT) reverses many of the symptoms associated with low T levels. However, TRT is linked to side effects such as infertility and increased risk of prostate cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, there is a need to obtain T-producing cells that could be used to treat hypogonadism via transplantation and reestablishment of T-producing cell lineages in the body. T is synthesized by Leydig cells (LCs), proposed to derive from mesenchymal cells of mesonephric origin. Although mesenchymal cells have been successfully induced into LCs, th

SUBMITTER: Li L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6859353 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature