精原干细胞与睾丸生殖衰老的研究进展

雄性睾丸内精子的生成及其质量随年龄增长逐渐降低。精原干细胞是精子生成的起点,其数量和质量决定了精子的生成,而精原干细胞niche是调节精原干细胞自我更新与分化的重要因素。在衰老过程中,干细胞微环境退化,精原干细胞自我更新和分化失衡,被认为是衰老导致睾丸生殖功能衰退的的主要因素。本文将综述衰老引起的精原干细胞与niche变化及其对生殖的影响相关研究进展。     

精原干细胞niche的研究进展

精原干细胞(spermatogonial stem cells,SSCs)是指睾丸内位于曲精细管基膜上既能自我更新维持自身适量恒定,又能定向分化产生精母细胞的一类原始精原细胞。随着干细胞深入的研究,人们发现了一种控制着干细胞可塑性与命运的微环境,此微环境被称为干细胞niche,干细胞niche由niche细胞、细胞外基质、细胞因子等构成。精原干细胞niche是由黏附因子、生长因子、支持细胞、间质细胞以及小管周肌肉细胞组成。大量的研究表明支持细胞在睾丸中是主要的成体细胞,通过分泌可溶性的因子来影响精原干细胞niche的结构与功能,同时支持细胞还能够间接的影响其他的成体细胞。随着年龄的增长使得精原干细胞niche的功能下降。精原干细胞数量以及精原干细胞niche为我们研究组织特异性干细胞生物学以及保持再生组织平衡提供了很宝贵的线索,精原干细胞对于保持组织的自我更新具有很重要的作用,并且受到人们大量的关注,然而精原干细胞niche也起到很重要的作用,它为治疗一些疾病提供新途径.本文将综述精原干细胞niche及其变化对精原干细胞功能调节的相关研究进展。     

Niche调控精原干细胞命运

<正>常的精子发生是一个由多种因子参与的精密、有序调控的生理过程。精原干细胞的自我更新维持了精原干细胞本身数量的稳定,而其分化成为精原祖细胞的节奏保障了形成精子的规模。睾丸微环境(niche)在精原干细胞自我更新和分化过程中起着举足轻重的作用。该文简要描述了精子发生过程中精原干细胞及其微环境形成过程中所涉及的主要细胞因子及其调控机制,并探讨了该研究过程中所遇到的问题,最后展望了相关基础研究在临床医疗和科学研究领域中的应用前景。     

睾丸组织块和精原干细胞异种移植的发展及现状

精原干细胞是精子发生的前提和基础,精原干细胞的存在为男性保存和恢复生育能力提供了可能.精原干细胞和睾丸组织移植技术已经被用来研究生精细胞的增殖与分化,这项技术对恢复无精子症或睾丸肿瘤患者的生育能力等有着重要的应用前景.综述了睾丸组织块和精原干细胞的移植技术的发展、现状及在医学领域的应用前景.     

精原干细胞介导的基因编辑动物模型研究进展

合适的动物模型对于人类疾病的研究和药物开发至关重要。精原干细胞是位于睾丸组织曲细精管基底膜上的一类具有自我更新和分化潜能的成体干细胞,可以定向分化产生精子。利用精原干细胞作为基因编辑的对象,生产基因编辑的精子进行受精有望成为建立基因编辑动物疾病模型的一条有效途径。该文就精原干细胞的生物学特征、体外培养以及精原干细胞介导的基因编辑动物模型的进展和优缺点进行了阐述。     

大鼠精原干细胞的高效分离和纯化方法

精原干细胞是精子发生的基础,是永久分化成精子的克隆源,它既可以自我更新维持体内干细胞的数量,又可以增殖分化形成各阶段的生精细胞直至成熟精子。本文以22～25日龄Wistar-Iamichi大鼠为研究对象,利用两步酶消化法分离得到睾丸曲细精管细胞悬液,根据精原干细胞与曲细精管细胞悬液中体细胞(支持细胞及少量的管周细胞)及各级分化的生精细胞贴壁能力及对细胞外基质粘附力的不同,将大鼠精原干细胞进行纯化。经纯化后,5只大鼠的睾丸可以得到约3×10~5个精原干细胞,该精原干细胞在体外培养可形成克隆,并且该克隆可表达精原干细胞特异的标记基因GFRα1和CDH1。本文所介绍的高效分离和纯化大鼠精原干细胞的方法,操作简便,且得到的精原干细胞具有很高的活力和增殖能力,该方法为今后大鼠精原干细胞的长期培养及操作研究奠定了基础。     

GDNF对精原干细胞增殖及其分化的调控机制

阐述了胶质细胞源性神经营养因子(GDNF)及其受体与精原干细胞增殖和分化的关系。GDNF能够促进未分化的精原细胞增长,并且可以调节精原干细胞自我更新与分化的微环境,参与其分化的第一步,是精原干细胞存活的重要营养因子。     

精原干细胞移植的临床应用前景

精原干细胞(ssc)是哺乳动物成体睾丸生精上皮中唯一可复制的多能二倍体细胞,它能向子代传递遗传信息.随着体外培养、冷冻保存技术的发展,精原干细胞及其移植(SSCT)技术在临床应用方面越来越显示出重要的应用前景.本文对精原干细胞的生物学特征,移植技术及其在医学领域的应用前景进行展望.     

精原干细胞微环境研究进展

精原干细胞(spermatogonia stem cells, SSCs)是一类在睾丸中具有长期自我更新和分化潜能的生殖细胞(germ cells, GCs),即位于基底膜上的组织干细胞,其自我更新和分化受到周围微环境的调控。近年来对SSCs的研究取得了一系列重要进展,为临床治疗部分男性不育患者带来了曙光。其中,微环境对SSCs的调节功能的研究尤为重要,微环境负责整合不同类型的细胞成分、细胞外基质、细胞外调节分子及激素等对SSCs的作用,从而调节SSCs命运。关于SSCs微环境的研究已开始逐步成为干细胞研究的主要内容之一。本文主要对小鼠(Mus musculus)SSCs微环境的细胞组成、调控因子以及特点等研究现状进行了综述,为深入研究SSCs微环境的结构和功能提供背景资料,希望在未来能够通过多种研究模式复用,发现更为丰富的细胞表型和微环境因子。     

精原干细胞自我更新和分化的调控

精原干细胞（spermatogonial stem cells,SSCs）是体内自然状态下惟一能将遗传信息传至子代的成体干细胞,它们能通过维持自我更新和分化的稳定从而保证雄性生命过程中精子发生的持续进行。了解SSCs自我更新和分化的调节机制有助于阐明精子发生机理,并为探究其他组织中成体干细胞增殖分化的调节机制提供依据。然而目前对于SSCs自我更新和分化的调控机制所知甚少。SSCs的更新与分化遵循特定模式,受以睾丸支持细胞为主要成分的微环境及各种内分泌因素如胶质细胞源神经营养因子（GDNF）、维生素、Ets转录因子ERM/Etv5等的调控。本文评述了SSCs更新与分化的模式以及上述因素对其更新、分化的调控,探讨了其中可能涉及的信号通路,以期为本领域及其他成体干细胞相关研究提供借鉴。     

Hedgehog in the Drosophila testis niche: what does it do there?

Stem cell niche is a specialized microenvironment crucial to self-renewal. The testis in Drosophila contains two different types of stem cells, the germline stem cells and the somatic cyst stem cells that are sustained by their respective niche signals, thus is a good system for studying the interaction between the stem cells and their hosting niche. The JAK-STAT and BMP pathways are known to play critical roles in the self-renewal of different kinds of stem cells, but the roles of several other pathways have emerged recently in a complex signaling network in the testis niche. Reports of independent observations from three research groups have uncovered an important role of Hedgehog (Hh) in the Drosophila testis niche. In this review, we summarize these recent findings and discuss the interplay between the Hh signaling mechanisms and those of the JAK-STAT and BMP pathways. We also discuss directions for further investigation.     

干细胞巢研究进展

干细胞巢即干细胞周围的微环境构成,一般包括干细胞的相邻细胞、粘附分子及基质等,但不同的干细胞有不同的巢结构。干细胞巢通过不同信号途径调控着干细胞的行为,使干细胞的自我更新和分化处于平衡状态。根据近年来有关干细胞巢的研究,本文从果蝇生殖系干细胞巢、哺乳动物造血干细胞巢、肠干细胞巢、毛囊表皮干细胞巢和神经干细胞巢等五个系统分别综述了干细胞巢的构成及其对干细胞的调节作用,探讨了干细胞巢作用于干细胞的内在机制。     

Stem cell and niche development in the postnatal rat testis

Adult tissue stem cells self-renew and differentiate in a way that exactly meets the biological demand of the dependent tissue. We evaluated spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) activity in the developing rat testis and the quality and accessibility of the stem cell niche in wild type, and two busulfan-treated models of rat pup recipient testes using an SSC transplantation technique as a functional assay. While our results revealed a 69-fold increase in stem cell activity during rat testis development from neonate to adult, only moderate changes in SSC concentration were observed, and stem cells from neonate, pup, and adult donor testes produce spermatogenic colonies of similar size. Analysis of the stem cell niche in recipient rat testes demonstrated that pup testes support high levels of donor stem cell engraftment when endogenous germ cells are removed or compromised by busulfan treatment. Fertility was established when rat pup donor testis cells were transplanted into fetal- or pup-busulfan-treated recipient rat pup testes, and the donor genotype was transmitted to subsequent generations. These results provide insight into stem cell/niche interactions in the rat testis and demonstrate that techniques originally developed in mice can be extended to other species for regenerative medicine and germline modification.     

Neutral competition of stem cells is skewed by proliferative changes downstream of Hh and Hpo

Neutral competition, an emerging feature of stem cell homeostasis, posits that individual stem cells can be lost and replaced by their neighbors stochastically, resulting in chance dominance of a clone at the niche. A single stem cell with an oncogenic mutation could bias this process and clonally spread the mutation throughout the stem cell pool. The Drosophila testis provides an ideal system for testing this model. The niche supports two stem cell populations that compete for niche occupancy. Here, we show that cyst stem cells (CySCs) conform to the paradigm of neutral competition and that clonal deregulation of either the Hedgehog (Hh) or Hippo (Hpo) pathway allows a single CySC to colonize the niche. We find that the driving force behind such behavior is accelerated proliferation. Our results demonstrate that a single stem cell colonizes its niche through oncogenic mutation by co‐opting an underlying homeostatic process.     

The Drosophila ovary: an active stem cell community

Only a small number of cells in adult tissues (the stem cells) possess the ability to self-renew at every cell division,while producing differentiating daughter cells to maintain tissue homeostasis for an organism's lifetime.The Drosophilaovary harbors three different types of stem cell populations (germline stem cell (GSC),somatic stem cell (SSC) andescort stem cell (ESC)) located in a simple anatomical structure known as germarium,rendering it one of the best modelsystems for studying stem cell biology due to reliable stem cell identification and available sophisticated genetic toolsfor manipulating gene functions.Particularly,the niche for the GSC is among the first and best studied ones,and studieson the GSC and its niche have made many unique contributions to a better understanding of relationships between stemcells and their niche.So far,both the GSC and the SSC have been shown to be regulated by extrinsic factors originatingfrom their niche and intrinsic factors functioning within.Multiple signaling pathways are required for controlling GSCand SSC self-renewal and differentiation,which provide unique opportunities to investigate how multiple signals fromthe niche are interpreted in the stem cell.Since the Drosophila ovary contains three types of stem cells,it also providesoutstanding opportunities to study how multiple stem cells in a given tissue work collaboratively to contribute to tissuefunction and maintenance.This review highlights recent major advances in studying Drosophila ovarian stem cells andalso discusses future directions and challenges.     

Ectopic activation of Dpp signalling in the male Drosophila germline inhibits germ cell differentiation

The mechanisms that control differentiation of stem cells to specialised cell types probably include factors intrinsic to stem cells as well as extrinsic factors produced by the microenvironment of the stem cell niche. The Drosophila male germline is renewed from a population of stem cells located in the apical tip of the adult testis. The morphological relationship between germline stem cells and their surrounding somatic cells is well understood but the factors that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation are still being uncovered. This study examined the effect of stimulating Dpp signalling directly in male germ cells. Ectopic Dpp or Activin signalling resulted in overproliferation of both stem cell-like and spermatogonial-like cells in the apical region of the testis. A third cell population that expressed stem cell markers was seen to proliferate in the distal testis when Dpp signalling was either stimulated or repressed in germline stem cells.     

Nuclear lamina builds tissues from the stem cell niche

Recent studies show that nuclear lamins, the type V intermediate filament proteins, are required for proper building of at least some organs. As the major structural components of the nuclear lamina found underneath the inner nuclear membranes, lamins are ubiquitously expressed in all animal cells. How the broadly expressed lamins support the building of specific tissues is not understood. By studying Drosophila testis, we have uncovered a mechanism by which lamin-B functions in the cyst stem cell (CySC) and its differentiated cyst cell, the cell types known to form the niche/microenvironment for the germline stem cells (GSC) and the developing germ line, to ensure testis organogenesis ¹. In this extra view, we discuss some remaining questions and the implications of our findings in the understanding of how the ubiquitous nuclear lamina regulates tissue building in a context-dependent manner.     

Nuclear lamina builds tissues from the stem cell niche

Recent studies show that nuclear lamins, the type V intermediate filament proteins, are required for proper building of at least some organs. As the major structural components of the nuclear lamina found underneath the inner nuclear membranes, lamins are ubiquitously expressed in all animal cells. How the broadly expressed lamins support the building of specific tissues is not understood. By studying Drosophila testis, we have uncovered a mechanism by which lamin-B functions in the cyst stem cell (CySC) and its differentiated cyst cell, the cell types known to form the niche/microenvironment for the germline stem cells (GSC) and the developing germ line, to ensure testis organogenesis ¹. In this extra view, we discuss some remaining questions and the implications of our findings in the understanding of how the ubiquitous nuclear lamina regulates tissue building in a context-dependent manner.     

Stem Leydig cells: from fetal to aged animals

Leydig cells are the testosterone-producing cells of the testis. The adult Leydig cell (ALC) population ultimately develops from undifferentiated mesenchymal-like stem cells present in the interstitial compartment of the neonatal testis. Distinct stages of ALC development have been identified and characterized. These include stem Leydig cells (SLCs), progenitor Leydig cells, immature Leydig cells, and ALCs. This review describes our current understanding of the SLCs in the fetal, prenatal, peripubertal, adult, and aged rat testis, as well as recent studies of the differentiation of steroidogenic cells from the stem cells of other organs.     

Artificial niche substrates for embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell cultures

Stem cells possess the ability to self-renew and differentiate into other cell types. In vivo, stem cells reside in their own anatomic niches in a defined physiological environment, from which they are released to differentiate into a required cell type when deemed appropriate. While a resident within the niche, the stem cell receives signals that in turn maintain the cell in a pluripotent state. In addition, the niche also provides nourishment to the cell. Physically, the niche also serves to anchor the cell via various ECM components and cell-adhesion molecules. Therefore, in vitro models that replicate the in vivo niche will lead to a better understanding of stem cell fate and turnover. In turn, this will help inform attempts to culture stem cells in vitro on artificial niche-like substrates. In this review, we have highlighted recent studies describing artificial niche-like substrates used to culture embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in vitro.