Breast cancer amplified sequence 2 (BCAS2) is involved in multiple biological processes, including pre-mRNA splicing. However, the physiological roles of BCAS2 are still largely unclear. Here we report that BCAS2 is specifically enriched in spermatogonia of mouse testes. Conditional disruption of Bcas2 in male germ cells impairs spermatogenesis and leads to male mouse infertility. Although the ...

Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) is a crucial protein kinase for mitotic regulation. VRK1 is known to play a role in germ cell development, and its deficiency results in sterility. Here we describe that VRK1 is essential for the maintenance of spermatogonial stem cells. To determine whether VRK1 plays a role in these cells, we assessed the population size of undifferentiated spermatogonia. Flow...

The immature part of the testis in the European fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra, consists of cephalo-caudally orientated zones of primary spermatogonia, secondary spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes and spermatids associated with follicle cells. Germ cells and follicle cells are arranged in lobules separated from each other by a vascularized connective tissue. P...

Many endemic fish species are threatened with extinction. Conservation strategies and the restoration of endemic fish after extinction must therefore be investigated. Although sperm cryopreservation is indispensable for the conservation of endangered fishes, the limited number of mature fish and limited availability (volume and period) of sperm from small endemic fish hinders the optimization a...

The underlying primary damage to the testis caused by chemotherapeutic regimens during childhood is largely unknown. Xenografting of monkey testes was successfully applied in maturation of juvenile testis to the point of complete spermatogenesis. This allows us to manipulate developing primate testis without direct treatment of patients. This new model is validated establishing the effects of c...

Procarbazine produces long-term sterility in the male by killing stem spermatogonia. The degree and selectivity of protection of stem spermatogonia in rats from procarbazine by pretreatment with steroid hormones were investigated. Male LBNF1 rats were treated for 6 weeks with Silastic implants containing testosterone plus 17 beta-estradiol. The hormone-treated rats and sham-treated controls wer...

The hormones that regulate spermatogonial development are ill defined, in part due to lack of appropriate experimental models. The photoinhibited hamster model provides a rich source of spermatogonia, thus making it an ideal model to study their control. This study aimed to assess the effects of FSH, in the absence of testosterone, on the reinitiation of Sertoli cell and spermatogonial developm...

Research on spermatogonia is hampered by complex architecture of the seminiferous tubule, poor viability of testicular tissue ex vivo and lack of physiologically relevant long-term culture systems. Therefore there is a need for an in vitro model that would enable long term survival and propagation of spermatogonia. We aimed at the most simplified approach to enable all different cell types with...

BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing, which are involved in multiple developmental processes in many organisms. Apart from miRNAs, mouse germ cells express another type of small RNA, piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). Although it has been clear that piRNAs play a role in repression of retrotransposons during spermatogenesi...

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) continuously undergo self-renewal and differentiation to sustain spermatogenesis throughout adulthood in males. In stallions, SSCs may be used for the production of progeny from geldings after cryopreservation and therapy for infertile and subfertile stallions. Undifferentiated cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) is a putative marker for undifferentiated spermato...