title: Plasticity of male germline stem cells and their applications in reproductive and regenerative medicine.
abstract: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), also known as male germline stem cells, are a small subpopulation of type A spermatogonia with the potential of self-renewal to maintain stem cell pool and differentiation into spermatids in mammalian testis. SSCs are previously regarded as the unipotent stem cells since they can only give rise to sperm within the seminiferous tubules. However, this concept has recently been challenged because numerous studies have demonstrated that SSCs cultured with growth factors can acquire pluripotency to become embryonic stem-like cells. The in vivo and in vitro studies from peers and us have clearly revealed that SSCs can directly transdifferentiate into morphologic, phenotypic, and functional cells of other lineages. Direct conversion to the cells of other tissues has important significance for regenerative medicine. SSCs from azoospermia patients could be induced to differentiate into spermatids with fertilization and developmental potentials. As such, SSCs could have significant applications in both reproductive and regenerative medicine due to their unique and great potentials. In this review, we address the important plasticity of SSCs, with focuses on their self-renewal, differentiation, dedifferentiation, transdifferentiation, and translational medicine studies.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med X Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Institute of Cancer, Shanghai 200127; Department of Urology, Shanghai Human Sperm Bank, Shanghai Institute of Andrology, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200001; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction and Reproductive Genetics, Shanghai 200127; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Zuping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D000066670:Cell Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D000066673:Cell Self Renewal / Q000502:physiology; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000639:trends*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*