Technology insight: In vitro culture of spermatogonial stem cells and their potential therapeutic uses

Male germline stem cells--spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs)--self-renew and produce large numbers of differentiating germ cells that become spermatozoa throughout postnatal life and transmit genetic information to the next generation. SSCs are the only germline stem cells in adults, because all female germline stem cells cease proliferation before birth. In this article, we first summarize development of SSCs, and then the relation of SSCs to somatic stem cells in tissues and pluripotent stem cells in vitro, such as embryonic stem cells. Next, we describe a transplantation technique in which donor testis cells from a fertile male can be transplanted to the testes of an infertile male where they re-establish spermatogenesis and restore fertility. The transplantation technique has been used to study the biology of SSCs, which made possible the identification of external factors that support in vitro self-renewal and proliferation of mouse and rat SSCs. Since SSCs of all mammalian species examined, including human, can replicate in mouse seminiferous tubules following transplantation, the growth factors required for SSC self-renewal are probably conserved among mammalian species. Culture techniques should therefore soon be available for human SSCs. In the final section, we discuss current and potential approaches for using the transplantation technique and in vitro culture of SSCs in human medicine. Because assisted reproductive techniques to fertilize oocytes with round or elongated spermatids are available, clinical use of cultured human SSCs will be greatly facilitated by development of techniques for in vitro differentiation of SSCs to mature germ cells.