Little is known of the molecular mechanisms whereby spermatogonia, mitotic germ cells of the testis, self-renew and differentiate into sperm 1,2 . Here we show that Zfp145, encoding the transcriptional repressor Plzf, has a crucial role in spermatogenesis. Zfp145 expression was restricted to gonocytes and undifferentiated spermatogonia and was absent in tubules of W/W v mutants that lack these cells. Mice lacking Zfp145 underwent a progressive loss of spermatogonia with age, associated with increases in apoptosis and subsequent loss of tubule structure but without overt differentiation defects or loss of the supporting Sertoli cells. Spermatogonial transplantation experiments revealed a depletion of spermatogonial stem cells in the adult. Microarray analysis of isolated spermatogonia from Zfp145-null mice before testis degeneration showed alterations in the expression profile of genes associated with spermatogenesis. These results identify Plzf as a spermatogoniaspecific transcription factor in the testis that is required to regulate self-renewal and maintenance of the stem cell pool.

Summary Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) maintain spermatogenesis throughout a man’s life and may have application for treating some cases of male infertility, including those caused by chemotherapy before puberty. We performed autologous and allogeneic SSC transplantations into the testes of 18 adult and 5 prepubertal recipient macaques that were rendered infertile with alkylating chemotherapy. After autologous transplant, the donor genotype from lentivirus-marked SSCs was evident in the ejaculated sperm of 9/12 adult and 3/5 prepubertal recipients after they reached maturity. Allogeneic transplant led to donor-recipient chimerism in sperm from 2/6 adult recipients. Ejaculated sperm from one recipient transplanted with allogeneic donor SSCs were injected into 85 rhesus oocytes via intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Eighty-one oocytes were fertilized, producing embryos ranging from 4-cell to blastocyst with donor paternal origin confirmed in 7/81 embryos. This demonstration of functional donor spermatogenesis following SSC transplantation in primates is an important milestone for informed clinical translation.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are at the foundation of mammalian spermatogenesis. Whereas rare A single spermatogonia comprise the rodent SSC pool, primate spermatogenesis arises from more abundant A dark and A pale spermatogonia, and the identity of the stem cell is subject to debate. The fundamental differences between these models highlight the need to investigate the biology of primate SSCs, which have greater relevance to human physiology. The alkylating chemotherapeutic agent, busulfan, ablates spermatogenesis in rodents and causes infertility in humans. We treated adult rhesus macaques with busulfan to gain insights about its effects on SSCs and spermatogenesis. Busulfan treatment caused acute declines in testis volume and sperm counts, indicating a disruption of spermatogenesis. One year following high-dose busulfan treatment, sperm counts remained undetectable, and testes were depleted of germ cells. Similar to rodents, rhesus spermatogonia expressed markers of germ cells (VASA, DAZL) and stem/progenitor spermatogonia (PLZF and GFR␣1), and cells expressing these markers were depleted following high-dose busulfan treatment. Furthermore, fresh or cryopreserved germ cells from normal rhesus testes produced colonies of spermatogonia, which persisted as chains on the basement membrane of mouse seminiferous tubules in the primate to nude mouse xenotransplant assay. In contrast, testis cells from animals that received high-dose busulfan produced no colonies. These studies provide basic information about rhesus SSC activity and the impact of busulfan on the stem cell pool. In addition, the germ cell-depleted testis model will enable autologous/homologous transplantation to study stem cell/ niche interactions in nonhuman primate testes. STEM CELLS

Spermatogenesis is a highly regulated process that produces sperm to transmit genetic information to the next generation. Although extensively studied in mice, our current understanding of primate spermatogenesis is limited to populations defined by state-specific markers defined from rodent data. As between-species differences have been reported in the process duration and cellular differentiation hierarchy, it remains unclear how molecular markers and cell states are conserved or have diverged from mice to man. To address this challenge, we employ single-cell RNA-sequencing to identify transcriptional signatures of major germ and somatic cell-types of the testes in human, macaque and mice. This approach reveals differences in expression throughout spermatogenesis, including the stem/progenitor pool of spermatogonia, classical markers of differentiation, potential regulators of meiosis, the kinetics of RNA turnover during spermatid differentiation, and germ cell-soma communication. These datasets provide a rich foundation for future targeted mechanistic studies of primate germ cell development and in vitro gametogenesis.

BACKGROUNDThe spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) pool in the testes of non-human primates is poorly defined.METHODSTo begin characterizing SSCs in rhesus macaque testes, we employed fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), a xenotransplant bioassay and immunohistochemical methods and correlated our findings with classical descriptions of germ cell nuclear morphology (i.e. Adark and Apale spermatogonia).RESULTSFACS analysis identified a THY-1+ fraction of rhesus testis cells that was enriched for consensus SSC markers (i.e. PLZF, GFRα1) and exhibited enhanced colonizing activity upon transplantation to nude mouse testes. We observed a substantial conservation of spermatogonial markers from mice to monkeys [PLZF, GFRα1, Neurogenin 3 (NGN3), cKIT]. Assuming that molecular characteristics correlate with function, the pool of putative SSCs (THY-1+, PLZF+, GFRα1+, NGN3+/−, cKIT−) comprises most Adark and Apale and is considerably larger in primates than in rodents. It is noteworthy that the majority of Adark and Apale share a common molecular phenotype, considering their distinct functional classifications as reserve and renewing stem cells, respectively. NGN3 is absent from Adark, but is expressed by some Apale and may mark the transition from undifferentiated (cKIT−) to differentiating (cKIT+) spermatogonia. Finally, the pool of transit-amplifying progenitor spermatogonia (PLZF+, GFRα1+, NGN3+, cKIT+/−) is smaller in primates than in rodents.CONCLUSIONSThese results provide an in-depth analysis of molecular characteristics of primate spermatogonia, including SSCs, and lay a foundation for future studies investigating the kinetics of spermatogonial renewal, clonal expansion and differentiation during primate spermatogenesis.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are essential for spermatogenesis, and these adult tissue stem cells balance self-renewal and differentiation to meet the biological demand of the testis. The developmental dynamics of SSCs are controlled, in part, by factors in the stem cell niche, which is located on the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules situated among Sertoli cells. Sertoli cells produce glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and disruption of GDNF expression results in spermatogenic defects and infertility. The GDNF signals through a receptor complex that includes GDNF family receptor alpha1 (GFRA1), which is thought to be expressed by SSCs. However, expression of GFRA1 on SSCs has not been confirmed by in vivo functional assay, which is the only method that allows definitive identification of SSCs. Therefore, we fractionated mouse pup testis cells based on GFRA1 expression using magnetic activated cell sorting. The sorted and depleted fractions of GFRA1 were characterized for germ cell markers by immunocytochemistry and for stem cell activity by germ cell transplantation. The GFRA1-positive cell fraction coeluted with other markers of SSCs, including ITGA6 and CD9, and was significantly depleted of KIT-positive cells. The transplantation results confirmed that a subpopulation of SSCs expresses GFRA1, but also that the stem cell pool is heterogeneous with respect to the level of GFRA1 expression. Interestingly, POU5F1-positive cells were enriched nearly 15-fold in the GFRA1-selected fraction, possibly suggesting heterogeneity of developmental potential within the stem cell pool.

Testicular tissue cryopreservation is an experimental method to preserve the fertility of prepubertal patients before they initiate gonadotoxic therapies for cancer or other conditions. Here we provide the proof of principle that cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissues can be autologously grafted under the back skin or scrotal skin of castrated pubertal Rhesus macaques and matured to produce functional sperm. During the eight-to twelve-month observation period, grafts grew and produced testosterone. Complete spermatogenesis was confirmed in all grafts at the time of recovery. Graft-derived sperm were competent to fertilize Rhesus oocytes, leading to preimplantation embryo development, pregnancy, and the birth of a healthy female baby. Pending the demonstration that similar results are obtained in non-castrated recipients, testicular tissue grafting may be applied in the clinic.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) maintain spermatogenesis throughout the reproductive life of mammals. While A single spermatogonia comprise the rodent SSC pool, the identity of the stem cell pool in the primate spermatogenic lineage is not well established. The prevailing model is that primate spermatogenesis arises from A dark and A pale spermatogonia, which are considered to represent reserve and active stem cells respectively. However, there is limited information about how the A dark and A pale descriptions of nuclear morphology correlate with the clonal (A single , A paired , and A aligned ), molecular (e.g. GFRa1 (GFRA1) and PLZF), and functional (SSC transplantation) descriptions of rodent SSCs. Thus, there is a need to investigate primate SSCs using criteria, tools, and approaches that have been used to investigate rodent SSCs over the past two decades. SSCs have potential clinical application for treating some cases of male infertility, providing impetus for characterizing and learning to manipulate these adult tissue stem cells in primates (nonhuman and human). This review recounts the development of a xenotransplant assay for functional identification of primate SSCs and progress dissecting the molecular and clonal characteristics of the primate spermatogenic lineage. These observations highlight the similarities and potential differences between rodents and primates regarding the SSC pool and the kinetics of spermatogonial self-renewal and clonal expansion. With new tools and reagents for studying primate spermatogonia, the field is poised to develop and test new hypotheses about the biology and regenerative capacity of primate SSCs.Reproduction (2010) 139 479-493