Scientists are discovering how to 3D-print testicular cells

In some parts of the world, UBC scientists have printed 3D human testicle cells and identified promising early signs of sperm-producing abilities.

The researchers, led by UBC Urology Assistant Professor Dr. Ryan Flannigan, hopes that technology will one day provide a solution for people living with currently incurable forms of male infertility.

“Infertility affects 15% of couples and male factors are a contributing cause in at least half of these cases,” said Dr. Flannigan, who runs his lab at the Vancouver Prostate Center at Vancouver General Hospital.

“We are pushing these cells 3D into a very specific structure that mimics human anatomy, which we believe is our best shot at stimulating sperm production. If successful, this could open the door to new fertility treatments for couples. , which currently have no other options. “

Inside human testicles, sperm are produced by small tubes known as seminiferous tubules. In the worst form of male infertility, known as non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), no sperm is found in the ejaculate due to reduced sperm production in these structures.

While in some cases doctors can help NOA patients by undergoing surgery to find extremely rare sperm, Dr. Flannigan says this procedure is successful only about half the time.

“Unfortunately, for the other half of these individuals, they have no options because we can not find sperm for them.”

These are the patients Dr. Flannigan’s team hopes to help.

For the recent study, the researchers performed a biopsy to collect stem cells from the testicles of a patient living with NOA. The cells were then grown and printed 3D on a petri dish and a hollow tubular structure resembling the sperm-producing seminiferous tubules.

Twelve days after the pressure, the team determined that the cells had survived. Not only that, they were mature in some of the specialized cells involved in sperm production, showing a significant improvement in spermatogonial stem cell posture – both early signs of sperm-producing ability. The results of the study were recently published Fertility and sterility science.

“It’s a big milestone, seeing these cells survive and start differentiating. There’s a long way to go, but this makes our team very hopeful,” said Dr Flannigan.

The team is now working to “coach” the printed cells to produce sperm. To do this, they will expose the cells to various nutrients and growth factors and fine-tune the structural arrangement to facilitate cell-to-cell interaction.

Once they get the cells to produce sperm, these sperm could potentially be used to fertilize an egg through in vitro fertilization, which offers a new fertility treatment option for couples.

Dr. Flannigan’s research program also sheds new light on the genetic and molecular mechanisms that contribute to NOA. They used different cell sequencing techniques to understand the gene expression and characteristics of each cell, then applied computational modeling of this data to better understand the root causes of the condition and identify new treatment options. The work was highly collaborative, involving UBC researchers in computer science, mathematics and engineering, as well as international collaborations.

“We are learning more and more that there are possibly many different causes of infertility and that each case is very patient specific,” said Dr Flannigan. “With that in mind, we take a personalized, precision medicine approach – we take a patient’s cells, try to understand what abnormalities are unique to them, and then print 3D and support the cells in ways that overcome these original defects.”