title: Transplantation as a Quantitative Assay to Study Mammalian Male Germline Stem Cells.
abstract: In mammals, the activities of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) provide the foundation for continual spermatogenesis throughout a male's reproductive lifetime. At present, the defining characteristics of SSCs and mechanisms controlling their fate decisions are not well understood. Transplantation is a definitive functional measure of stem cell capacity for male germ cells that can be used as an assay to provide an unequivocal quantification of the SSC content in an experimental cell population. Here, we discuss the procedure for mice and provide protocols for preparing donor germ cell suspensions from testes directly or primary cultures of spermatogonia for transplantation, enriching for SSCs, preparing recipient males, microinjection into recipient testes, and considerations for experimental design.
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Aileen R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Helsel
authors.affiliation: Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Molecular Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA. joatley@vetmed.wsu.edu.|Center for Reproductive Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, 647521, Pullman, WA, 99164-7521, USA. joatley@vetmed.wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Oatley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058948:Cell Tracking; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Mouse; SSC enrichment; Spermatogonial stem cell; Transplantation