Transient suppression of transplanted spermatogonial stem cell differentiation restores fertility in mice.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Nakamura Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8351876 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Transient suppression of transplanted spermatogonial stem cell differentiation restores fertility in mice.
Nakamura Yoshiaki Y Jörg David J DJ Kon Yayoi Y Simons Benjamin D BD Yoshida Shosei S
Cell stem cell 20210412 8
A remarkable feature of tissue stem cells is their ability to regenerate the structure and function of host tissue following transplantation. However, the dynamics of donor stem cells during regeneration remains largely unknown. Here we conducted quantitative clonal fate studies of transplanted mouse spermatogonial stem cells in host seminiferous tubules. We found that, after a large population of donor spermatogonia settle in host testes, through stochastic fate choice, only a small fraction pe ...[more]
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Project description:Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) possess a unique ability to recolonize the seminiferous tubules. Upon microinjection into the adluminal compartment of the seminiferous tubules, SSCs transmigrate through the blood-testis barrier (BTB) to the basal compartment of the tubule and reinitiate spermatogenesis. It was recently discovered that inhibiting retinoic acid signaling with WIN18,446 enhances SSC colonization by transiently suppressing spermatogonia differentiation, thereby promoting fertility restoration. In this study, we report that WIN18,446 increases SSC colonization by disrupting the BTB. WIN18,446 altered the expression patterns of tight junction proteins (TJPs) and disrupted the BTB in busulfan-treated mice. WIN18,446 upregulated the expression of FGF2, one of the self-renewal factors for SSCs. While WIN18,446 enhanced SSC colonization in busulfan-treated wild-type mice, it did not increase colonization levels in busulfan-treated Cldn11-deficient mice, which lack the BTB, indicating that the enhancement of SSC colonization in wild-type testes depended on the loss of the BTB. Serial transplantation analysis revealed impaired self-renewal caused by WIN18,446, indicating that WIN18,446-mediated inhibition of retinoic acid signaling impaired SSC self-renewal. Strikingly, WIN18,446 administration resulted in the death of 45% of busulfan-treated recipient mice. These findings suggest that TJP modulation is the primary mechanism behind enhanced SSC homing by WIN18,446 and raise concerns regarding the use of WIN18,446 for human SSC transplantation.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Spermatogonial stem cell transplantation (SSCT) could become a fertility restoration tool for childhood cancer survivors. However, since in mice, the colonization efficiency of transplanted spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) is only 12%, the efficiency of the procedure needs to be improved before clinical implementation is possible. Co-transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) might increase colonization efficiency of SSCs by restoring the SSC niche after gonadotoxic treatment. METHODS:A mouse model for long-term infertility was developed and used to transplant SSCs (SSCT, n?=?10), MSCs (MSCT, n =?10), a combination of SSCs and MSCs (MS-SSCT, n?=?10), or a combination of SSCs and TGFß1-treated MSCs (MSi-SSCT, n?=?10). RESULTS:The best model for transplantation was obtained after intraperitoneal injection of busulfan (40 mg/kg body weight) at 4 weeks followed by CdCl2 (2 mg/kg body weight) at 8 weeks of age and transplantation at 11 weeks of age. Three months after transplantation, spermatogenesis resumed with a significantly better tubular fertility index (TFI) in all transplanted groups compared to non-transplanted controls (P?<?0.001). TFI after MSi-SSCT (83.3?±?19.5%) was significantly higher compared to MS-SSCT (71.5?±?21.7%, P?=?0.036) but did not differ statistically compared to SSCT (78.2?±?12.5%). In contrast, TFI after MSCT (50.2?±?22.5%) was significantly lower compared to SSCT (P?<?0.001). Interestingly, donor-derived TFI was found to be significantly improved after MSi-SSCT (18.8?±?8.0%) compared to SSCT (1.9?±?1.1%; P?<?0.001), MSCT (0.0?±?0.0%; P?<?0.001), and MS-SSCT (3.4?±?1.9%; P?<?0.001). While analyses showed that both native and TGFß1-treated MSCs maintained characteristics of MSCs, the latter showed less migratory characteristics and was not detected in other organs. CONCLUSION:Co-transplanting SSCs and TGFß1-treated MSCs significantly improves the recovery of endogenous SSCs and increases the homing efficiency of transplanted SSCs. This procedure could become an efficient method to treat infertility in a clinical setup, once the safety of the technique has been proven.
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