Research Progress of Stem Leydig Cells
YANG Meiying, DU Yitong, CHEN Huifang, HUANG Qiliang, BAI Yinshan*
SLCs (stem leydig cells) are a kind of adult stem cells, located in the lateral wall of seminiferous tubules in testicular tissue. They maintain the balance of self-renewal and differentiation. ALCs (adult leydig cells) differentiated from SLCs can synthesize and secrete large amounts of testosterone which are the main source of testosterone production in male animals. ALCs are widely involved in the regulation of reproduction and physiology in the male animals. Due to the late discovery of SLCs, studies on specific markers, potential regulatory mechanism and clinical application are not in-depth. In this paper, the origin, molecular markers, self-renewal, differentiation mechanism and clinical application of SLCs will be reviewed, so as to promote the study of SLCs and the clinical application of SLCs in the treatment of diseases caused by androgens deficiency.
CN
EN