Restoration of Spermatogenesis and Male Fertility Using an Androgen Receptor Transgene

    March 2015 in “ PloS one ”
    William H. Walker, Evan Easton, Rebecca S. Moreci, Corey Toocheck, Prashanth Anamthathmakula, Pancharatnam Jeyasuria
    TLDR Scientists restored fertility in male mice lacking a key fertility gene by using a modified gene.
    The study demonstrated that introducing an androgen receptor (AR) transgene could restore spermatogenesis and male fertility in androgen receptor-deficient mice. Researchers used a transgenic approach to express the AR specifically in Sertoli cells, which are crucial for germ cell development. Among the 9 founder mice, 6 expressed the AR-EGFP transgene, successfully restoring normal spermatogenesis and fertility. This finding suggested that targeted gene therapy could be a potential treatment for male infertility caused by AR deficiencies, providing a proof of principle for using AR-EGFP transgenes to study AR functions and elucidate molecular mechanisms in androgen-responsive tissues.
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