1. 생쥐 고환으로부터 얻은 세포를 배양하여 군집을 형성하는 것을 관찰할 수 있었으며, AP, SSEA-1, -3, -4과 Integrin 6, 1 및 Oct4의 발현을 확인하였다. 2. 생쥐 생식줄기세포를 3-5일정도 배양하게 되면, 여러 층으로 이루어진 군집을 이루게 되는데 이는 생쥐 배아줄기세포나 배아생식줄기세포의 형태와 같은 것이었다. 3. 생쥐 생식줄기세포를 체외에서 효과적으로 분리, 배양할 수 있는 조건을 확립하였다.
Sperrnatogenesis, the process by which the male germ-line stem cells(GSCs; type A spermatogonia) divide and differentiate to produce the mature spermatozoa, occurs in the seminiferous tubules of the testis. The GSCs proliferate actively to produce two types of cells: other GSCs and differentiating spermatogonia. GSCs have unipotentcy, devoted solely to the generation of sperm. The function of GSCs has broad implications for development, disease, and evolution. Spermatogenesis is fundamental for propagation of species and the defects of this system can result in infertility or disease. The ability to identify, isolate, culture, and alter GSCs will allow powerful new approaches in animal transgenesis and human gene therapy relating to infertility. Until recently, research on stem cells in the testis has been limited because of technical difficulties in isolating and identifying these cell populations. Here, we were trying to find out optimal conditions for in vitro culture of GSCs for identifying and isolating GSCs. We collected mouse GSCs from 3-days old mouse by two-step enzyme digestion method. GSCs were plated and grown on mouse embryonic fibroblasts in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing 15% fatal bovine serum, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 1% non-essential amino acids, 1 ng/ bFGF, 10 M forskolin, 1500 U/ human recombinant leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Over a period 3∼5 days, GSCs gave rise to large multicellular colonies resembling those of mouse pluripotent stem cells. After 5th passages, cells within the colonies continued to be alkaline phosphatase and Oct-4 positive and tested positive against a panel of two immunological markers(Integrin 6 and Integrin 1) that have been recognized generally to characterize GSCs. SSEA-1, SSEA-3, and SSEA-4 also showed positive signals. Based on our data, these GSCs-derived cultures meet the criteria for GSCs itself and even other pluripotent stem cells. We reported here the establishment of in vitro cultures from mouse male GSCs.