This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 139/1/227    most recent REP-09-0176v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rodriguez-Sosa, J. R Articles by Hahnel, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rodriguez-Sosa, J. R Articles by Hahnel, A.

Development of strips of ovine testes after xenografting under the skin of mice and co-transplantation of exogenous spermatogonia with grafts

Departments of
¹ Biomedical Sciences
² Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1

Correspondence should be addressed to J R Rodriguez-Sosa who is now at Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1; Email: jrrodrig{at}ucalgary.ca

Xenografting of testicular tissue is an attractive new strategy for studying postnatal development of spermatogenesis and to preserve male genetics in large mammals. Typically, small cubes of immature testis (1 mm³) are grafted under the dorsal skin of immune-deficient mice. We attempted to increase the total number of seminiferous tubules in each xenograft with spermatogenesis by grafting flat strips of testis (9x5x1 mm) from ram lambs in immune-deficient mice. The percentage of grafts that survived and percentage of seminiferous tubules that developed spermatogenesis were the same as those reported after xenografting small cubes of lamb testis. Partially purified sheep spermatogonia were labeled with the fluorescent dye carboxy fluorescein diacetate succinyl diester and transplanted into the seminiferous tubules of one of the donor testis just before engraftment. The temporary label in the donor cells was detected for 4 weeks after xenografting, suggesting that co-engraftment of spermatogonia with testicular tissue may be a way to rapidly determine the effect of a specific gene on spermatogenesis. Finally, Sertoli cell lesions in xenografts of lamb testes were quantified, and their number and severity were found to increase, especially after grafts had been in place for 4 weeks. Although this coincided with the development of spermatogenesis, the extent of germ cell differentiation negatively correlated with severity of the lesions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. T. Phillips, K. Gassei, and K. E. Orwig Spermatogonial stem cell regulation and spermatogenesis Phil Trans R Soc B, May 27, 2010; 365(1546): 1663 - 1678. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]