Inductive Role Of Sustentacular Cells (Sertoli Cells) Conditioned Medium On Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Male germ line stem cells are key factors for male spermatogenesis and fertility. Sustentacular cells (Sertoli cells) as somatic cells play a pivotal role in creating essential microenvironment for the self-renewal and differentiation of the male germ line cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are recognized as self-renewing and multipotent cells able to differentiate into multiple cell types. The generation of male germ cells from mesenchymal stem cells may provide a therapeutic method to treat male infertility. In this study, Bone marrow derived mesenchymal cells (BMMSCs) were retrieved from the bone marrow of 6-8-week old Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice. Sustentacular cells (Sertoli cells) were isolated and made rich using lectin coated plates. Sustentacular cell condition medium (SCCM) was collected after different time intervals. Then the BMMSCs were cultured with different concentration of SCCM and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) at various times. Specific markers of Germ line cells were evaluated by using Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemistry. The results showed that BMMSCs cultured with SCCM for 48h exhibited germ line specific transcripts (Mvh, Iid4, piwil2) (p<0.05) and markers (Mvh, Scp3). Our findings represent that culturing BMMSCs with SCCM may lead to effective differentiation of BMMSCs into germline cells and provide a treatment strategy for male infertility.