Translating Spermatogonial Stem Cell Transplantation to the Clinic - Male Germline Stem Cells Developmental and Regenerative Potential - page 248

11.5 Conclusions

Progress in animal models has generated tremendous excitement about the potential
of SSC transplantation to treat some cases of male infertility (e.g., secondary to can-
cer therapy), if responsibly developed. Specifically, progress in nonhuman primate
models is providing valuable preclinical data that will facilitate translation to the
clinic, including: development of primate testis cell isolation techniques, refinement
of recipient conditioning protocols to create animals devoid of spermatogenesis,
optimization of the SSC transplant technique in large animal models, and develop-
ment of methods for evaluating transplant. Application of these approaches in the
clinical setting will require special consideration of procedure cost, patient safety,
and regulatory oversight, which have implications for the methods of tissue accrual,
processing, and preservation. These challenges are the subject of vigorous investi-
gation in several laboratories around the world and will help to make the goal of
fertility preservation a reality for patients facing the prospects of life-long infertility
resulting from lifesaving gonadotoxic therapies.

Acknowledgments Work performed in our laboratory was supported by the Magee-Womens
Research Institute and Foundation, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development (NICHD/NIH) through cooperative agreement (U54 HD08160) as part
of the Specialized Cooperative Centers Program in Reproduction and Infertility Research, NIH
grants RR018500, AG024992, and HD055475 to KEO, an institutional NRSA postdoctoral
fellowship (HD007332) and Pathways to Independence Award (HD062687) to BPH. We are also
grateful to Tony Plant for providing monkey testicular tissue for our fundamental developmental
biology studies (HD013254 to TMP). Artwork in Fig. 11.1 was produced by Molly Feuer ( http://
www.feuerillustration.com ) .

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