VASA germ cell marker expression analysis in the testicular cells of fertile and infertile mouse

Infertility could be one of the leading causes of social problem. Vasa the member of DEAD box proteins, has been shown to be specifically expressed in germ cell lineage. This gene expression also has been shown to be essential throughout the germ cell development. Here we evaluated the expression of VASA mRNA in fertile and infertile mouse testicular cells. The VASA protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemical staining in testis tissue. We show that VASA protein, which was highly expressed in normal testicular culture, was undetectable in infertile tissues. Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) have an essential role in spermatogenesis and are required for male fertility. The SSCs colonies isolated from adult testis after digestion and were subjected to comparative analysis between fertile and infertile mouse. In infertile tissues, the expression of Vasa germ cell markers appears to be decreased whereas Vasa were significantly expressed in fertile cultures. The results identify Vasa as a useful biomarker for human germ cells detection.

کلیدواژه ها:

Vasa ، SSCs ، Testicular Germ Cells.