שימור פוריות על ידי הקפאת רקמת אשך בילדים לפני גיל ההתבגרות העוברים טיפול גונדוטוקסי - תוצאות ראשוניות

INTRODUCTION: Fertility preservation consideration prior to gonadotoxic aggressive treatment is now mandatory. Nevertheless, while cryopreservation of mature sperm cells is a well-established technique, preserving fertitity from testicular tissue of pre-pubertal male children in whom only spermatogonial stem cells are avaitable is still under investigation. In rodents, our group was able to demonstrate in-vitro maturation of spermatogonial stem cells to a mature sperm cell which undergoes acrosome reaction.
AIM: To culture, expand and preserve spermatogonial stem cells in-vitro in order to allow future fertility to pre-pubertal male children undergoing aggressive gondotoxic treatment.
METHODS: Pre-pubertal male children scheduled for aggressive gonadotoxic treatment were referred to the Soroka University Medical Center. Testicular biopsy was performed from one testicle. Most of the tissue was cryopreserved for future fertility. A minor part of the tissue was transferred to the research laboratory for culturing and further growth and differentiation. Testicular cells were isolated by enzymatic digestion.
RESULTS: This is a first published account in humans of cells from testicular tissue that were cultured for more than two months. In this culture, isolated and groups of cells were observed. Some of the cells expressed pre-meiotic markers, while meiotic markers were expressed by other cells after culture.
CONCLUSION: Preliminary results indicate a possible culturing technique from human testicular tissue in-vitro. Furthermore, meiotic activity may indicate the beginning of differentiation. Further studies are required to develop growth and differentiation techniques and for examining the cell for possible genetic and epigenetic changes before injecting them to mature oocytes for the purpose of fertilization and embryo development.