Therapeutic Potential of Gene Transfer to Testis; Myth or Reality?

Future Perspectives in the Diagnosis and Management of Unexplained Male Infertility

“…Leydig cells are also a potential gene therapy. Their dysfunction can lead to infertility, which is believed to be one of the mechanisms of infertility in Kleinfelter (47XXY) syndrome [40,64]. Marker genes expressed involved in spermatogenesis that are expressed by Leydig cells have been identified [40,65].…”

“…Retroviral vectors were found to introduce transgenes into the germ line and spermatogonia in vitro [56] and in vivo [57]. Lentiviral vector use in basic science research has been increasing due to its capacity to efficiently transduce cells with long-term gene expression using large-sized DNA [40]. They can infect both dividing and nondividing cells.…”

“…Nonviral vectors are advantageous in that they are cheap, have no DNA size limitations, and have a good safety profile [40]. However, expression of genes is short term and transfection efficiency is often low.…”

“…Abnormalities in the maturation of Sertoli cells may lead to testicular dysfunction. Therefore, understanding expression patterns of genes that signify Sertoli cell maturity such as anti-Mullerian hormone, vimentin, aromatase, and inhibin alpha my provided a basis for gene therapy-based interventions [40]. Dysfunction of transcriptional regulation due to defective transcription factors (such as CREB, Sox3, PEM, and DAX1) may result in male infertility [40].…”

“…Adenoviral vectors are most commonly used. They are able to infect dividing and differentiated cells and tend not to integrate into the host genome [40]. Using adenovirus vectors, transgenes were transferred to animal testes in vivo.…”