Sperm Progenitor Cells Are a Source of Multipotent Stem Cells

Researchers working with a mouse model developed a method to transform spermatogonial progenitor stem cells (SPCs) obtained from the animals' testes into multipotent cells (MASCs) that could mature into various different cell types.

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medical College (New York City, NY, USA) cultivated SPCs on mitotically inactivated testicular feeders containing CD34+ stromal cells. They reported in the September 20, 2007, issue of Nature that the SPCs during long-term culture maintained the ability to give rise to multipotent adult spermatogonial-derived stem cells (MASCs). MASCs were then directed along paths leading to working blood vessel (endothelial) cells and tissue, cardiac cells, and brain cells. Both SPCs and MASCs expressed GPR125, an orphan adhesion-type G-protein-coupled receptor.

"What is really novel about our work is that -- unlike induced pluripotency -- these mouse SPCs do not require any addition or tweaking of genes to get them to form the multi-potent cells (MASCs) that then go on to produce all of these cell types,” explained senior author Dr. Shahin Rafii, professor of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. "For male patients, it could someday mean a readily available source of stem cells that gets around ethical issues linked to embryonic stem cells. It also avoids issues linked to tissue transplant rejection, since these autologous stem cells are derived from the patient's own body.”


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