Xenografting of testicular tissue pieces: twelve years of an in vivo spermatogenesis system

摘要

Spermatogenesis is a dynamic and complex process that involves endocrine and testicular factors. During xenotransplantation of testicular tissue fragments into immunodecifient mice a functional communication between host brain and donor testis is established. This interaction allows for the progression of spermatogenesis and recovery of fertilization-competent spermatozoa from a broad range of mammalian species. In the last years, significant progress has been achieved in testis tissue xenografting that improves our knowledge about factors determining the success of grafting. The goal of this review is to provide up to date information about the role of factors such as donor age, donor species, testis tissue preservation or type of recipient mouse on the efficiency of this technique. Applications are described and compared with other techniques with similar purposes. Recent work demonstrates that testicular tissue xenografting is used as a model to study gonadotoxicity of drugs and to obtain sperm from valuable young males.