Male germline stem cells in non-human primates

Swati Sharma; Joana M D Portela; Daniel Langenstroth-Röwer; Joachim Wistuba; Nina Neuhaus; Stefan Schlatt

doi:10.5194/pb-4-173-2017

Male germline stem cells in non-human primates

Primate Biol. 2017 Sep 22;4(2):173-184. doi: 10.5194/pb-4-173-2017. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Swati Sharma^{1

2}, Joana M D Portela^{3

2}, Daniel Langenstroth-Röwer¹, Joachim Wistuba¹, Nina Neuhaus¹, Stefan Schlatt¹

Affiliations

¹ Center of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, Institute of Reproductive and Regenerative Medicine, Albert Schweitzer Campus 1, Building D11, Münster, Germany.
² These authors contributed equally to this work.
³ Center for Reproductive Medicine, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Over the past few decades, several studies have attempted to decipher the biology of mammalian germline stem cells (GSCs). These studies provide evidence that regulatory mechanisms for germ cell specification and migration are evolutionarily conserved across species. The characteristics and functions of primate GSCs are highly distinct from rodent species; therefore the findings from rodent models cannot be extrapolated to primates. Due to limited availability of human embryonic and testicular samples for research purposes, two non-human primate models (marmoset and macaque monkeys) are extensively employed to understand human germline development and differentiation. This review provides a broader introduction to the in vivo and in vitro germline stem cell terminology from primordial to differentiating germ cells. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the most immature germ cells colonizing the gonad prior to sex differentiation into testes or ovaries. PGC specification and migratory patterns among different primate species are compared in the review. It also reports the distinctions and similarities in expression patterns of pluripotency markers (OCT4A, NANOG, SALL4 and LIN28) during embryonic developmental stages, among marmosets, macaques and humans. This review presents a comparative summary with immunohistochemical and molecular evidence of germ cell marker expression patterns during postnatal developmental stages, among humans and non-human primates. Furthermore, it reports findings from the recent literature investigating the plasticity behavior of germ cells and stem cells in other organs of humans and monkeys. The use of non-human primate models would enable bridging the knowledge gap in primate GSC research and understanding the mechanisms involved in germline development. Reported similarities in regulatory mechanisms and germ cell expression profile in primates demonstrate the preclinical significance of monkey models for development of human fertility preservation strategies.

Publication types

Review