image: Image of five NANOS2 knockout (KO) bucks generated by somatic cell nuclear transfer of CRISPR-Cas9 gene edited fetal goat fibroblasts. view more
Credit: Image credit: Jon Oatley.
The gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 can improve the effectiveness of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation (SSCT) in mice and livestock by ensuring that all sperm cells produced in the recipient are donor-derived, a study finds. SSCT is a technique that involves injecting sperm-producing testicular cells from a fertile donor into the testis of an infertile recipient. For certain applications, SSCT requires the elimination of the endogenous germline in recipients to ensure that all sperm cells produced are derived from the donor. Jon Oatley and colleagues report a method that can achieve this critical step in mice and livestock. Using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, the authors inactivated the NANOS2 gene to completely remove the endogenous germline and render recipient males sterile. Next, the authors used SSCT to achieve the production of donor-derived, mature, motile sperm cells in mice, pigs, and goats, whose testes were structurally normal. The engraftment was successful, even though the donors and recipients were immunologically incompatible, and the recipients had a fully functional immune system. Moreover, three of the six mice that underwent SSCT before puberty mated to produce a total of 111 donor-derived offspring. According to the authors, the approach holds promise for improving livestock and conserving endangered species, among other applications.
###
Article #20-10102: "Donor-derived spermatogenesis following stem cell transplantation in sterile NANOS2 knockout males," by Michela Ciccarelli, Mariana I. Giassetti, Deqiang Miao et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jon Oatley, Washington State University, Pullman, WA; tel: 509-335-0499; e-mail: <joatley@wsu.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences