Sperm can be made from infertile men's skin tissue: study
By Kimberly Gillan|
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Scientists say there is new hope for infertile men after they were able to make early-stage sperm cells from skin cells.
The US researchers recruited three infertile men who had genetic defects on their Y sex chromosome that stopped them being able to produce healthy adult sperm on their own.
It was previously thought impossible for the men to make sperm, but the Stanford University scientists managed to convert their skin cells into stem cells, which can grow almost any tissue.
When they were implanted into the testes of mice, early-stage human sperm cells developed.
"What we found was that cells from men who did not possess sperm at the time of clinical observation were able to produce the precursors for sperm," said Cyril Ramathal, of Stanford University.
They tried the same technique with fertile men and found more early stage sperm cells were produced.
The study was very small but the researchers hope that once the stem cells are transplanted into the fertile men's testes, they will grow into mature sperm cells.
"This work suggests these infertile men might have had testicular stem cells at some point, and the problem is that they cannot maintain them," Allan Pacey, a Sheffield University senior lecturer in andrology, told the Guardian.
"You'll never restore them back to normal, but they might have a few months or years of making sperm that's enough to give them fertility back."
But the researchers said some of the cells turned into small tumours in the testes, so the technique would have to be perfected to ensure it doesn't cause cancer.
Once refined, the technique could also be used for men who are made infertile from chemotherapy.
"Being able to efficiently convert skin cells into sperm would allow this group to become biologic fathers," Michael Eisenberg, director of male reproduction and surgery at Stanford, who was not involved in the study, told The Guardian.
"Infertility is one of the most common and devastating complications of cancer treatments, especially for young boys and men."
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
Source: The Guardian Author: Kimberly Gillan; Approving editor: Rory Kinsella