Makoto Nagano

Biology and clinical application of male germline stem cells.

If a 6-year old boy must take cancer chemotherapy and will likely become infertile, no techniques are currently available that help him have genetic children in the future. For adults, sperm-banking is the option but it is not an option for prepubertal and adolescent boys. This is an important quality of life issue to the patient himself, but also to the patient’s family and his future partner. I investigate sperm-producing stem cells (spermatogonial stem cells, SSCs), which exist from the time of birth and throughout life, and critically, these cells provide an irreplaceable resource to preserve fertility of boys and men at any age. We expect that SSCs can be harvested from a patient before therapy, and following cryopreservation, transplanted back to the patient, resulting in the production of his own sperm. This scheme has already been realized in animal models. Why not with humans? This is our research goal.

Research Associates and Trainees: