Neonatal gonocytes co-cultured with Sertoli cells on a laminin-containing matrix resume mitosis and elongate.
We co-cultured gonocytes and Sertoli cells isolated on the day of birth and observed the appearance, 1 and 3 days after the start of culture, of gonocytes that had developed cellular processes and that were labeled by [3H]thymidine, respectively. These events occurred in the absence of hormones, etc. and with a time course very similar to that seen in vivo. In other incubations, we found that the presence of laminin in the underlying substrate was critical in promoting proliferation and elongation of gonocytes. These observations strongly suggest that interactions between gonocytes and other testicular cells/factors in the co-cultures promote maturation of these germ cells in vitro, and thus provide new evidence to support the concept that paracrine mechanisms are important during testicular development as well as in adults.
Orth
J M
JM
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19140.
McGuinness
M P
MP
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002450:Cell Communication; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D007797:Laminin; D008297:Male; D008938:Mitosis; D051381:Rats; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology*; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*
D007797:Laminin