Research progress in differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to male germ cells

Abstract

Reproduction is one of the focuses in the field of life science and male infertility is still an unmet medical condition. However, due to ethical restrictions, there is a lack of suitable research models with human genetic background for the study of male infertility. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are both pluripotent stem cells with multi- lineage potentials including differentiating into male germ cells. These research models could not only be applied to study the normal development of human germ cells, but also could be applied to study the pathogenesis of male infertility. Since the formation of sperm in vivo follows certain temporal and spatial regulation, in vitro germ cell differentiation from ESCs/iPSCs could be obtained through sequential supplementation of factors simulating the formation of sperm in vivo. In this review, we intend to summarize the common inducers for differentiating ESCs/iPSCs into male germ cells at developmental stage, as well as discussing the existing problems and prospects for the research of male infertility. Key words: Pluripotent stem cells; Male germ cells; In vitro differentiation; Inducers