WIKIMEDIA, L.A. DAWSONScientists in China have moved one step closer to stem cell–based treatments for infertility, reporting their creation of sperm-like cells from mouse embryonic stem cells. Stem cell researchers have for years worked to create sex cells from stem cells, but coaxing stem cells to undergo meiosis in vitro was a major stumbling block in efforts to create sperm or ova from progenitors. The team, led by Jiahao Sha of Nanjing University, is the first to produce sperm-cell precursors called round spermatids entirely in vitro. The group’s results appeared in Cell Stem Cell today (February 25).
“It’s a good piece of work that really sets the stage for so many different fields by putting together pieces necessary to de novo derive germ cells and use them for reproductive purposes,” said Brian Hermann, a reproductive biologist and stem cell researcher at the University of Texas, San Antonio, who was not involved in the work. “The fact they were able to complete meiosis in vitro from germ cells derived from pluripotent stem cells is really a major advance,” he added.
Sha and colleagues first induced murine embryonic stem cells to differentiate into cells that resembled primordial germ cells—precursors to haploid gametes. They then placed these cells in culture containing hormones like testosterone. This culture imitated the environment that primordial germ cells are exposed ...
