title: Spermatogenesis in Explanted Fetal Mouse Testis Tissues.
abstract: We previously reported the successful induction of complete spermatogenesis of mice in neonatal testis tissues cultured on agarose gel, with the culture medium supplemented with a bovine serum albumin product, AlbuMAX. This method, however, has not been examined for fetal testis tissues. In this report, we tested the culture method for fetal testes of the Acrosin (Acr)-Gfp transgenic mouse, whose testicular germ cells express GFP from the midmeiotic phase onward, using AlbuMAX-containing medium. The fetal testis, from 19.5 days postcoitum (dpc) back to 14.5 dpc, showed spermatogenic progression and produced haploid cells in culture. On the other hand, testes of 13.5 dpc or earlier did not show the meiotic sign of Acr-Gfp expression. Regardless of the fetal age, tissue masses enlarged during the culture period because of the elongation and thickening of the seminiferous tubules. This simple culture method could be a useful experimental system to investigate fetal testicular development and germ cell biology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naruse
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Life Science, Yokohama City University Association of Medical Science, Yokohama, Japan Department of Urology, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan ogawa@yokohama-cu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
keywords: organ culture; spermatogenesis; testis development