Progress and Future Prospect of In Vitro Gametogenesis

Dear Colleagues,

Gametogenesis is a complex process occurring in the ovaries and in the testes and allowing eggs and sperm cell production, respectively. In both sexes, such a process involves stem-cell proliferation and meiotic division resulting in haploid gametes. However, the timing of these two stages and their substages displays sexual dimorphisms. Hence, in males, meiosis only starts after puberty, and from then, sperm cells are continuously generated every day. In contrast, in females, all oocytes are formed before birth and arrested at the dictyate stage, a late prophase I of meiosis I, around birth. In females, meiosis will resume after puberty, and each month, only one or two oocytes will be released from the ovaries and again arrested at metaphase II. Oogenesis will then only be completed after fertilization. In both sexes, gametes are supported by nurse cells throughout the process of gametogenesis. Nurse cells (granulosa and theca) surround the oocytes to provide nutrition, and Sertoli cells correspond to unique nurse cells intimately connected to sperm cells in formation, also providing a special environment for spermatogenesis. The niches for gamete growth are so special that in contrast to somatic cells, the in vitro culture is extremely hard to achieve. Gamete development is also tightly regulated by many factors, such as steroid hormones, making the in vitro culture even more challenging. Despite this complexity, in recent decades, in vitro culture from stem cells to gametes has become possible, and data from the literature indicate significant progress in this field resulting from a better characterization of gametes and optimization of culture conditions.

In this Special Issue of Cells, we welcome researchers to submit their original research articles, reviews, or shorter perspective articles on all aspects related to the theme of the "Progress and Future Prospect of In Vitro Gametogenesis".

Prof. Dr. Zhibing Zhang
Dr. Aminata Touré
Dr. Huanyu Qiao
Guest Editors

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• gametogenesis
• oogenesis
• spermatogenesis
• stem cells
• germ cells
• nurse cells
• meiosis
• spermiogenesis
• in vitro culture
• infertility