Advances in Isolation Methods for Spermatogonial Stem Cells

Abstract

Stem cell research has led to many remarkable achievements in recent years, but progress in the study of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) has been relatively slow, partly due to the slow development of techniques for spermatogonial stem cell isolation. The major accomplishments of SSC sorting and identification occurred approximately 10 years ago, and since that time, these techniques have been widely used without major improvements. In this article, we briefly introduce the biological properties of SSCs before reviewing the development of sorting techniques for SSCs in the past decades. We then summarize recent achievements in SSC sorting and finally discuss the advantages and disadvantages of SSC isolation methods, to provide new insight into techniques and research related to spermatogonial stem cells and promote the development of reproductive biology.