Background: Human testicular cells are greatly valuable to the research community as tools for studying testicular physiology and the effects of environmental pollutants. Because adult testicular cells have a limited self-organization capacity and life span, we investigated whether human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) can be used together with testicular cells to move a step closer toward making an optimal model of the human testis.
Methods: We used in vitro culture of donor testicular cells under serum-containing and chemically defined conditions. CRISPR-Cas9 technology was applied to introduce fluorescent transgenes (mCherry2 and EGFP) into hPSCs and testicular cells. hPSC-derived spheroids were co-cultured with human testicular cells in mini-spin bioreactors.
Results: Traditional cell culture conditions used for maintenance of testicular somatic cells generally contain serum and pose limitations on evaluating the role of active molecules on cell functions. We established that chemically defined culture conditions can be used to maintain testicular cells without the loss of proliferative activity. These cultures demonstrate marker expression which is characteristic of common testicular cell types: Sertoli, Leydig, endothelial, myoid cells, and macrophages. In order to model testicular physiology, it is important to be able to perform live cell microscopy. Thus, we generated fluorescent protein-expressing human testicular cells and hPSCs and demonstrated that these cell types can be successfully co-cultured for prolonged periods of time in a three-dimensional microenvironment.
Conclusion: Our research extends the possible applications of human testis-derived somatic cells and shows that they can be used together with hPSCs for further studies of human male reproductive biology.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13770-020-00240-0 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Department of Natural Compounds Chemistry, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) poses a major risk to human health due to an array of implications, one of which is a detrimental effect on the testicular and reproductive functions. Euphorbia heterophylla is widely recognized for its medicinal properties worldwide.
Methods And Findings: The objective of this study was to profile E.
Clin Epigenetics
January 2025
Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, 17003, Girona, Spain.
Recent studies support the influence of paternal lifestyle and diet before conception on the health of the offspring via epigenetic inheritance through sperm DNA methylation, histone modification, and small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) expression and regulation. Smoking may induce DNA hypermethylation in genes related to anti-oxidation and insulin resistance. Paternal diet and obesity are associated with greater risks of metabolic dysfunction in offspring via epigenetic alterations in the sperm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutat Res Rev Mutat Res
January 2025
Radiation Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, MD 20892-9778, USA; Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, OX3 0BP, UK.
Biological effects of ionizing radiation vary with radiation quality, which is often expressed as the amount of energy deposited per unit length, i.e., linear energy transfer (LET).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNarra J
December 2024
Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Medicinal herbs, such as the ant nest plant (), are promising for the management of diabetes mellitus-associated infertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological activity of the ant nest plant and its capacity to mitigate the adverse effects of alloxan-induced diabetes on testicular morphology, epididymal function, and sperm quality in male rats. The tuber of the ant nest plant was extracted using methanol and then subjected to phytochemical screenings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBasic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol
February 2025
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
Paclitaxel (PAC), derived from Taxus brevifolia, is used to treat solid tumours but causes reproductive toxicity due to oxidative stress, affecting sperm quality and testicular tissue. Nerolidol (NRL), an antioxidant sesquiterpene alcohol, has not been studied for its potential to reduce PAC-induced reproductive damage. This study investigates NRL's ability to mitigate PAC-induced reproductive toxicity in rats.
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