title: Germline stem cells: toward the regeneration of spermatogenesis.
abstract: Improved therapies for cancer and other conditions have resulted in a growing population of long-term survivors. Infertility is an unfortunate side effect of some cancer therapies that impacts the quality of life of survivors who are in their reproductive or prereproductive years. Some of these patients have the opportunity to preserve their fertility using standard technologies that include sperm, egg, or embryo banking, followed by IVF and/or ET. However, these options are not available to all patients, especially the prepubertal patients who are not yet producing mature gametes. For these patients, there are several stem cell technologies in the research pipeline that may give rise to new fertility options and allow infertile patients to have their own biological children. We will review the role of stem cells in normal spermatogenesis as well as experimental stem cell-based techniques that may have potential to generate or regenerate spermatogenesis and sperm. We will present these technologies in the context of the fertility preservation paradigm, but we anticipate that they will have broad implications for the assisted reproduction field.
authors: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Hanna
authors: H
authors: Valli
authors: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors: Bart T
authors: BT
authors: Phillips
authors: Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors: Gunapala
authors: G
authors: Shetty
authors: Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles, California; Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors: James A
authors: JA
authors: Byrne
authors: Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, Los Angeles, California.
authors: Amander T
authors: AT
authors: Clark
authors: Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors: Marvin L
authors: ML
authors: Meistrich
authors: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Magee-Womens Research Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: orwigke@upmc.edu.
authors: Kyle E
authors: KE
authors: Orwig
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000639:trends; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation
keywords: Male fertility; male infertility; regenerative medicine; spermatogonial stem cells; stem cells