USE OF IN-VITRO SYSTEMS TO STUDY MALE GERM-CELL DEVELOPMENT IN NEONATAL RATS

The aim of this review is to summarize ways in which in vitro approach es have allowed us to investigate several aspects of gametogenesis in the male. In our laboratory, we have established both organ culture an d cell co-culture methodologies and applied them to questions focused on cellular and molecular events important for development of primitiv e spermatogonia, or gonocytes, in testes of neonatal rats. We have des cribed their postnatal reinitiation of mitosis and their migration to the basal lamina in anticipation of basal compartment formation and, t hrough use of these in vitro systems, we have identified several mecha nisms regulating these processes. These include matrix influence on mi tosis and migration, adhesive mechanisms active between gonocytes and Sertoli cells, and involvement of the Kit receptor on germ cells and i ts ligand from Sertoli cells in supporting gonocyte migration, as desc ribed below. (C) 1998 by Elsevier Science Inc.