Biological characteristics of co-culture of mesenchymal stem cells and Sertoli cells in mice

Abstract

Objective To study the biological characteristics of co-culture of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and Sertoli cell layer in vitro as a mimicked microenvironment of spermatogenesis in mice. Methods The MSCs, Sertoli cells (SCs) and spermatogonia stem cells (SSCs) from Wistar mice aging 1d, 3d and 30-d after birth were isolated, purified and divided into 4 groups as follows: SCs, SCs+SSCs, MSCs and SCs+MSCs. All of them were cultured in the conditioned medium. The morphology, survival and growth status were observed, and the expression of alkaline phosphatase was detected simultaneously. Results Compared isolated MSCs with SCs culture group, the survival time of co-culture of MSCs with SCs was prolonged; part of the cells of MSCs shrank to round shape with a high refraction, The paired round cells or quadrifid-round-cells were observed with alkaline phosphatase positive reaction. Conclusions During the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells co-cultured in vitro with Sertoli cells to mimic microenvironment of spermatogenesis, the MSCs can be survived for a long time and obtained some characteristics of SSCs, which can probably be transformed into spermatogenic cells. Key words: Stem cell, mesenchymal; Germ cell; Seminiferous epithelium; Cryptorchidism