BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The culture of spermatogonial cells and the production of embryonic stem cells (ES-like cells), suggest these cells as a sufficient new source for cell therapy and for the treatment of diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the pattern of genetic changes during differentiation of spermatogonial cells into oligodendrocyte precursor cells.
METHODS: In this experimental study, spermatogonial cells were isolated from the testicles of 2 – 6 days old newborn mice (6 – 10 mice each time) through two stages of enzymatic digestion. The cells were divided into three groups of quasi-embryonic stem cells, neuro-progenitive and oligodendrocyte precursor. Specific markers stra8, mvh, piwil2, C-myc, Nanog, NF68, Nestin, Olig2, and NG2 were evaluated using Real Time-PCR and immunocytochemistry method at each differentiation step.
FINDINGS: Molecular evaluations showed that increase in Nestin gene expression in neuronal precursor cells was 1.3 times more than quasi-embryonic stem cells. In the molecular evaluations at the end of the second stage of differentiation, it was determined that culture at the end of the induction steps resulted in a significant increase in the expression of the genes of Olig2 and NG2 and decrease in the expression of Nestin gene (p<0.05). Molecular evaluations showed that this increase in oligodendrocyte-like cells was respectively 1.4 and 1.6 times more than neuronal precursor cells.
CONCLUSION: In this study, it was demonstrated that quasi-embryonic stem cells have the potential to express the NF68 and Nestin neuron markers. The quasi-embryonic stem cells of NG2 and Olig2 genes were expressed in the cells after the induction stage.