Retrieval, extracorporal storage and autotransplantation of testicular tissue could become an important strategy for preserving male gonadal function. The present study used syngeneic and immunodeficient nude mice as hosts, and immature and adult mice, neonatal and adult photoregressed Djungarian hamsters and neonatal marmosets to identify the potential of testicular tissue grafting to maintain the morphological and functional integrity of the testis. Testicular tissue was grafted s.c. either as fresh tissue or after cryopreservation into adult, orchidectomized hosts. The mice that received rodent testis tissue were autopsied 50 days later, and blood samples were collected. Sixty-five per cent of mouse isografts contained morphologically normal testicular tissue and seminiferous tubules with some degree of spermatogenic recovery. Mature spermatozoa were recovered after enzymatic disaggregation. Although the recovery of spermatogenesis was limited in adult mouse and hamster tissue, complete spermatogenesis was observed in grafts from immature rodents. Testicular tissue from neonatal marmosets developed up to the stage of spermatocytes at day 135 after xenografting. Androgen concentrations were comparable in intact control mice and in mice receiving fresh mouse and hamster grafts, slightly lower in mice receiving cryopreserved grafts and adult photoregressed hamster tissue, and low in castrated control mice and in mice receiving marmoset tissue. These results show that isografts and xenografts of immature and adult testicular tissue become functionally active as a s.c. graft in the mouse and that this approach might be useful in combination with cryopreservation as a tool for storage and activation of the male germ line and androgen replacement therapy in patients.

Interest in spermatogonia has grown in recent years as a result of exciting developments in stem cell research in general and the development of new research tools allowing the isolation, culture and transplantation of these cells. This review focuses on the methodological breakthroughs and highlights the recent findings that have substantially increased understanding of spermatogonial physiology. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the hormonal regulation of spermatogonia and presents several new approaches to the use of spermatogonia in basic science and medicine. In the near future these techniques will allow the development of novel routes for the generation of transgenic lifestock, the treatment of infertility, the targeting for male contraception, and an alternative strategy for fertility preservation of oncological patients.

Oogonia are characterized by diploidy and mitotic proliferation. Human and mouse oogonia express several factors such as OCT4, which are characteristic of pluripotent cells. In human, almost all oogonia enter meiosis between weeks 9 and 22 of prenatal development or undergo mitotic arrest and subsequent elimination from the ovary. As a consequence, neonatal human ovaries generally lack oogonia. The same was found in neonatal ovaries of the rhesus monkey, a representative of the old world monkeys (Catarrhini). By contrast, proliferating oogonia were found in adult prosimians (now called Strepsirrhini), which is a group of ‘lower’ primates. The common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) belongs to the new world monkeys (Platyrrhini) and is increasingly used in reproductive biology and stem cell research. However, ovarian development in the marmoset monkey has not been widely investigated. Herein, we show that the neonatal marmoset ovary has an extremely immature histological appearance compared with the human ovary. It contains numerous oogonia expressing the pluripotency factors OCT4A, SALL4, and LIN28A (LIN28). The pluripotency factor-positive germ cells also express the proliferation marker MKI67 (Ki-67), which has previously been shown in the human ovary to be restricted to premeiotic germ cells. Together, the data demonstrate the primitiveness of the neonatal marmoset ovary compared with human. This study may introduce the marmoset monkey as a non-human primate model to experimentally study the aspects of primate primitive gonad development, follicle assembly, and germ cell biology in vivo.

The possible role of apoptosis in spontaneous or induced germ cell death was investigated by treating adult male rats with either a GnRH antagonist (112.5 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹ for 14 days) or methoxyacetic acid (650 μg kg⁻¹; single dose) or sham-treated with either of the vehicles (n = 3 per group). The antagonist virtually abolished gonadotrophin secretion, while methoxyacetic acid reduced serum testosterone concentrations and slightly increased those of FSH (neither significantly). Bands of low molecular mass characteristic of apoptotically degraded DNA were detected by electrophoresis in both treatment groups but not in the controls. Sectioned, Carnoy-fixed testes were screened for degenerating cells with periodic acid–Schiff's base and haemalaun or examined for apoptotic cells using a modified in situ end-labelling procedure. Periodic acid–Schiff's-stained dying cells were found in low numbers in control animals with a distribution and frequency that matched that of apoptotic cells. Degenerating germ cells identified by histology were present at certain stages of spermatogenesis after 2 weeks of antagonist treatment. A comparison of their distribution with that of end-labelled cells identified the cell death as apoptotic. Methoxyacetic acid caused a massive depletion of spermatocytes at stages IX-II, which was also found to be apoptotic. It is concluded that spontaneous germ cell death in adult rats is apoptotic and that both gonadotrophin ablation and administration of methoxyacetic acid can cause apoptosis in the germ cells of adult male rats, but via different routes.

Resident macrophages are maintained at a comparatively high, yet stable, tissue concentration in the adult rat testis. After destruction of Leydig cells by ethane dimethane sulphonate treatment, the number of resident macrophages increases briefly and then decreases to below normal values, but returns to normal after the reappearance of Leydig cells. The mechanisms by which the adult testicular macrophage population is maintained, either by monocyte recruitment or by mitosis of the resident macrophages, have not been examined. An immunohistochemical dual labelling approach using a specific monoclonal antibody for resident macrophages, ED2, and markers of mitotic activity (bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen) was used to investigate resident macrophage proliferation in Bouin's-fixed paraffin wax-embedded adult rat testes. Detection of the normally fixation sensitive antigen recognized by ED2 was achieved by using a decreased fixation time and antigen retrieval. Peaks of resident macrophage mitotic activity were observed during the phases of macrophage proliferation immediately after ethane dimethane sulphonate treatment and during the recovery phase associated with Leydig cell restoration. These data demonstrate that resident macrophages have the capacity to proliferate within the adult rat testis and, thus, this population of resident macrophages is maintained, at least in part, by mitotic division in situ.

The seminiferous epithelium in the nonhuman primate Callithrix jacchus is similarly organized to man. This monkey has therefore been used as a preclinical model for spermatogenesis and testicular stem cell physiology. However, little is known about the developmental dynamics of germ cells in the postnatal primate testis. In this study, we analyzed testes of newborn, 8-week-old, and adult marmosets employing immunohistochemistry using pluripotent stem cell and germ cell markers DDX4 (VASA), POU5F1 (OCT3/4), and TFAP2C (AP-2 γ). Stereological and morphometric techniques were applied for quantitative analysis of germ cell populations and testicular histological changes. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) of testicular mRNA was applied using 16 marker genes establishing the corresponding profiles during postnatal testicular development. Testis size increased during the first 8 weeks of life with the main driver being longitudinal outgrowth of seminiferous cords. The number of DDX4-positive cells per testis doubled between birth and 8 weeks of age whereas TFAP2C- and POU5F1-positive cells remained unchanged. This increase in DDX4-expressing cells indicates dynamic growth of the differentiated A-spermatogonial population. The presence of cells expressing POU5F1 and TFAP2C after 8 weeks reveals the persistence of less differentiated germ cells. The mRNA and protein profiles determined by qRT-PCR and western blot in newborn, 8-week-old, and adult marmosets corroborated the immunohistochemical findings. In conclusion, we demonstrated the presence of distinct spermatogonial subpopulations in the primate testis exhibiting different dynamics during early testicular development. Our study demonstrates the suitability of the marmoset testis as a model for human testicular development.

The stability of the duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium was determined by investigating incorporation of 5-bromodeoxyuridine into S-phase germ cells of normal and hemicastrated standard laboratory rats (Sprague–Dawley) and feral Brown/Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). Feral rats were trapped on farms in the surroundings of Münster. The duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, determined at intervals of 12 days (3 h versus 12 days 3 h after 5-bromodeoxyuridine injection), was remarkably constant and similar in intact laboratory rats (12.49 ± 0.05 days, n = 13, mean ± sem) and feral rats (12.44 ± 0.06 days, n = 8). In hemicastrated laboratory and feral rats the duration of the cycle was similar to that in intact animals, indicating that hemicastration did not influence the kinetics of the seminiferous epithelium cycle. However, the coefficients of variation of the estimated duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium were at least three times lower in hemicastrated rats (one testis from the same animal serving as reference point) compared with that of intact rats (the reference point based on the average staining frequency at 3 h). Overall, no significant differences between laboratory and feral rats could be observed with regard to testis weight and serum concentrations of FSH and testosterone. The number of cells per testis, determined by flow cytometry, was similar in laboratory and feral rats, except for a slight but significant difference in the haploid:tetraploid cell ratio (6.3 ± 0.2 versus 7.5 ± 0.3, P< 0.05). It is concluded that the duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium is identical in feral Brown/Norway rats and their descendent laboratory rat strain, Sprague–Dawley rats. Hemicastration (each animal being its own reference point) profoundly increased the precision of the determination of duration of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium, at least for the duration of one cycle.

Improvements in cancer survival rates have renewed interest in the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for fertility preservation. We used the marmoset as a non-human primate model to assess the effect of different cryoprotectives on follicular viability of prepubertal compared to adult ovarian tissue following xenografting. Cryopreservation was performed with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), 1,2-propanediol (PrOH), or ethylene glycol (EG) using a slow freezing protocol. Subsequently, nude mice received eight grafts per animal from the DMSO and the PrOH groups for a 4-week grafting period. Fresh, cryopreserved–thawed, and xenografted tissues were serially sectioned and evaluated for the number and morphology of follicles. In adult tissue, the percentage of morphologically normal primordial follicles significantly decreased from 41.2±4.5% (fresh) to 13.6±1.8 (DMSO), 9.5±1.7 (PrOH), or 6.8±1.0 (EG) following cryopreservation. After xenografting, the percentage of morphologically normal primordial (26.2±2.5%) and primary follicles (28.1±5.4%) in the DMSO group was significantly higher than that in the PrOH group (12.2±3 and 5.4±2.1% respectively). Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining suggests the resumption of proliferative activity in all cellular compartments. In prepubertal tissues, primordial but not primary follicles display a similar sensitivity to cryopreservation, and no significant differences between DMSO and PrOH following xenografting were observed. In conclusion, DMSO shows a superior protective effect on follicular morphology compared with PrOH and EG in cryopreserved tissues. Xenografting has confirmed better efficacy of DMSO versus PrOH in adult but not in prepubertal tissues, probably owing to a greater capacity of younger animals to compensate for cryoinjury.

This study examined the effect of GnRH-antagonist (GnRH-A)-induced gonadotrophin withdrawal on numbers of germ cells in adult cynomolgus monkeys and aimed to identify the site of the earliest spermatogenic lesion(s) produced. Animals received either GnRH-A (Cetrorelix; 450 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹ s.c.; n = 5) or vehicle (control, n = 4) for 25 days. One testis was removed on day 16 and the other testis on day 25. The optical disector stereological method was used to estimate germ and Sertoli cell numbers per testis. After GnRH-A treatment for 16 days, the number of type A spermatogonia was unchanged; however, type B spermatogonia (15% of control), preleptotene + leptotene + zygotene (15% control) and pachytene (55% control) spermatocytes were all reduced (P <0.05). By day 25, these cells were further reduced together with step 1–6 spermatids (38% control; P < 0.05). More mature germ cells were unaffected. The proportion of type A pale spermatogonia at stages VII–XII was reduced (P <0.05) in GnRH-A-treated groups (52% on day 16, 43% on day 25) compared with control (67%). After 25 days of GnRH-A treatment, the number of Sertoli cells was unaltered but nuclear volume was reduced (66% control, P < 0.05). Tubule length was unchanged but volume (50% control), diameter (62% control) and epithelial thickness (59% control) were reduced (P < 0.05). GnRH-A treatment suppressed serum testosterone concentrations into the castrate range, and testicular testosterone concentrations to 21–36% of control values. Serum inhibin (as an index of FSH action) was suppressed in GnRH-A-treated animals by day 16, declining to 38% of control concentrations at day 25. Therefore, the primary lesion produced by GnRH-A induced gonadotrophin withdrawal is the rapid and profound reduction in the number of type B spermatogonia. The time course of germ cell loss suggests the inhibition of type A pale spermatogonial mitosis as the primary mechanism. Later germ cell maturation, specifically meiosis and spermiogenesis, appears to proceed unaffected. The decline in late spermatocytes and spermatids by 25 days of GnRH-A treatment is attributed to a 'depletional wave' from the spermatogonial lesion. The fact that such marked spermatogenic disruption occurs in the face of substantial testicular testosterone concentrations implies a significant role for FSH in spermatogonial development.