Generation of lung epithelial-like tissue from human embryonic stem cells.

Background: Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have the capacity to differentiate in vivo and in vitro into cells from all three germ lineages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of specific culture conditions on the differentiation of hESC into lung epithelial cells.

Methods: Undifferentiated hESC, grown on a porous membrane in hESC medium for four days, were switched to a differentiation medium for four days; this was followed by culture in air-liquid interface conditions during another 20 days.

Bone marrow stem cells transplanted to the testis of sterile mice do not differentiate into spermatogonial stem cells and have no protective effect on fertility.

Four months after transplanting bone marrow cells into the testis, no differentiation to spermatogonial stem cells was observed. Bone marrow transplantation had no protective effect on fertility after chemotherapy.

Spermatogonial survival in long-term human prepubertal xenografts.

Although childhood cancer treatments are yielding higher survival rates, sterility remains one of their major side effects. For prepubertal boys, there currently are no options to preserve fertility. Testicular tissue banking, together with subsequent grafting, may become a strategy in the future.

Regeneration of spermatogenesis by grafting testicular tissue or injecting testicular cells into the testes of sterile mice: a comparative study.

Objective: To make a comparison between two different approaches-spermatogonial stem cell transplantation and intratesticular grafting, for preservation and reintroduction of spermatogonial stem cells.

Design: Prospective experimental study.

Setting: Academic medical center and teaching hospital.

Autologous spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in man: current obstacles for a future clinical application.

Fertility preservation is becoming an important issue in the management of the quality of life of prepubertal boys undergoing cancer treatment. At present, the only theoretical option for preservation of fertility in these boys is the preservation of the spermatogonial stem cells for autologous intratesticular stem cell transplantation. In animal models, this technique has shown promising results.

Computer-assisted motility analysis of spermatozoa obtained after spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in the mouse.

Objective: To study the motility characteristics of epididymal spermatozoa after spermatogonial stem cell transplantation.

Design: Testicular cells from fertile donor mice were transplanted to the testis of genetically sterile recipient mice. Three to nine months later, the epididymal spermatozoa were isolated and used for a computer-assisted sperm motility analysis.

Cryosurvival and spermatogenesis after allografting prepubertal mouse tissue: comparison of two cryopreservation protocols.

Although childhood cancer treatments are yielding higher survival rates, sterility remains one of the major side effects. For prepubertal boys there are currently no options to preserve fertility. Testicular tissue banking together with subsequent grafting may become a possible strategy in the future.

Evaluation of in vivo conception after testicular stem cell transplantation in a mouse model shows altered post-implantation development.

Background: Apart from research applications, testicular stem cell transplantation (TSCT) may one day also have valuable clinical applications. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether this technique is a safe method to have progeny. This controlled study aims at evaluating the fetuses and the live born offspring obtained after TSCT in male mice.

Spermatogonial survival after grafting human testicular tissue to immunodeficient mice.

Background: The xenografting of pre-pubertal human testicular tissue to an immunodeficient mouse is a theoretical strategy for restoring fertility in childhood cancer patients, while circumventing the risk of malignant recurrence. This study aimed at comparing the grafting of pre-pubertal and adult murine testicular tissue, as well as that of human adult testicular tissue, to two immunodeficient recipients, i.e.

Preserving the reproductive potential of men and boys with cancer: current concepts and future prospects.

The introduction of ICSI has totally changed the reproductive prospects for boys and men who are treated for cancer. With post-pubertal boys and adult men, semen cryopreservation should be offered to every patient undergoing a cancer treatment since preservation of fertility cannot be guaranteed for an individual patient and treatment may shift to a more sterilizing regimen. In the ICSI era, all semen samples, even those containing only a few motile sperm, should be accepted for cryopreservation.