title: A vasculature-associated niche for undifferentiated spermatogonia in the mouse testis.
abstract: Mammalian spermatogenesis produces numerous sperm for a long period based on a highly potent stem cell system, which relies on a special microenvironment, or niche, that has not yet been identified. In this study, using time-lapse imaging of green fluorescent protein-labeled undifferentiated spermatogonia (A(undiff)) and three-dimensional reconstitution, we revealed a biased localization of A(undiff) to the vascular network and accompanying Leydig and other interstitial cells, in intact testes. Differentiating spermatogonia left these niche regions and dispersed throughout the basal compartment of the seminiferous epithelium. Moreover, rearrangement of A(undiff) accompanied the vasculature alteration. We propose that the mammalian germline niche is established as a consequence of vasculature pattern formation. This is different from what is observed in Drosophila or Caenorhabditis elegans, which display developmentally specified niche structures within polarized gonads.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. shosei@lmls.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shosei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Mamiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sukeno
authors.forename: Yo-Ichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nabeshima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000166:cytology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012671:Seminiferous Tubules / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology*; D013737:Testis / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology*