Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Mouse Round Spermatid Injection
Published on: January 26, 2024
Update on fertility restoration from prepubertal spermatogonial stem cells: How far are we from clinical practice?
Maria Grazia Giudice1, Francesca de Michele2, Jonathan Poels1
1Department of Gynecology-Andrology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract:
Fertility preservation in prepubertal boys facing gonadotoxic treatment is still at the experimental stage. Nevertheless cryopreservation of immature testicular tissue (ITT) obtained by small testicular biopsy is being increasingly proposed in reproductive care clinics for this purpose. Different approaches to in vivo or in vitro mature spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) contained in ITT have been studied: autografting of testicular tissue pieces, transplantation of one's own purified germ cell suspensions, and in vitro maturation (IVM) for subsequent use of sperm for intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). While complete spermatogenesis yielding fertile offspring has been achieved in a number of animal species after cell and tissue transplantation and IVM, no mature sperm has yet been obtained from human prepubertal SSCs. This review describes research conducted by our team and a number of others working on fertility restoration from SSCs, with special emphasis on debated concerns and progress made towards clinical application of different strategies.
Related Concept Videos
Spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis
The process of spermatogenesis can be divided into mitosis, meiosis, and spermiogenesis. During mitosis, the spermatogonia or stem cells divide to produce two identical daughter cells, type A and B spermatogonia. Type-A...
Adult Stem Cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic...
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Infertility in Males

