title: Offspring production with sperm grown in vitro from cryopreserved testis tissues.
abstract: With the increasing cure rate of paediatric cancers, infertility, as one of the adverse effects of treatments, has become an important concern for patients and their families. Since semen cryopreservation is applicable only for post-pubertal patients, alternative pre-pubertal measures are necessary. Here we demonstrate that testis tissue cryopreservation is a realistic measure for preserving the fertility of an individual. Testis tissues of neonatal mice were cryopreserved either by slow freezing or by vitrification. After thawing, they were cultured on agarose gel and showed spermatogenesis up to sperm formation. Microinsemination was performed with round spermatids and sperm, leading to eight offspring in total. They grew healthily and produced progeny upon natural mating between them. This strategy, the cryopreservation of testis tissues followed by in vitro spermatogenesis, is promising to preserve the fertility of male paediatric cancer patients in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuhiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokonishi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komeya
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katagiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal-Fetal Biology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakabayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal-Fetal Biology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hata
authors.affiliation: RIKEN, Bioresource Center, Ibaraki 305-0074, Japan.
authors.forename: Kimiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: RIKEN, Bioresource Center, Ibaraki 305-0074, Japan.
authors.forename: Narumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogonuki
authors.affiliation: RIKEN, Bioresource Center, Ibaraki 305-0074, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan [2] Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama 236-0004, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D059247:Fertility Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D012098:Reproduction; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000502:physiology*