Stem cell model allows researchers to explore the earliest stages of sex determination in mice and humans (IMAGE)
Caption
One of the significant challenges in sex reversal research is the lack of an in vitro system to model and study variants found in Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) individuals. A study published today by researchers at Bar-Ilan University offers a solution to this challenge through the development of new tools to create the somatic/supporting cells of the gonad and hence be able to model stem cells derived from a DSD individual in a dish. This facilitates, for the first time, the ability to start investigating DSD pathologies in the lab dish in a human-related context (and not via mice models). In this figure are somatic gonadal cells derived from mouse embryonic stem cells. The cells are aggregating and forming tubule-like structures that resemble the testis cords seen in real testis. The two left figures are bright field images and the one on the left is fluorescence image with a reporter gene that is only active in Sertoli cells present in the testis indicating that the cells are indeed very similar to Sertoli cells of the testis.
Credit
Dr. Nitzan Gonen, Bar-Ilan University
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