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Originally published in Science Express on 6 September 2007
Science 21 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5845, pp. 1722 - 1726
DOI: 10.1126/science.1144885
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Research Articles

A Vasculature-Associated Niche for Undifferentiated Spermatogonia in the Mouse Testis

Shosei Yoshida,* Mamiko Sukeno, Yo-ichi Nabeshima

Mammalian spermatogenesis produces numerous sperm for a long period based on a highly potent stem cell system, which relies on a special microenvironment, or niche, that has not yet been identified. In this study, using time-lapse imaging of green fluorescent protein–labeled undifferentiated spermatogonia (Aundiff) and three-dimensional reconstitution, we revealed a biased localization of Aundiff to the vascular network and accompanying Leydig and other interstitial cells, in intact testes. Differentiating spermatogonia left these niche regions and dispersed throughout the basal compartment of the seminiferous epithelium. Moreover, rearrangement of Aundiff accompanied the vasculature alteration. We propose that the mammalian germline niche is established as a consequence of vasculature pattern formation. This is different from what is observed in Drosophila or Caenorhabditis elegans, which display developmentally specified niche structures within polarized gonads.

Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: shosei{at}lmls.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)