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In vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are 2 major assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) used widely to treat infertility. Recently, spermatogonia! transplantation emerged as a new ART to restore fertility to young patients with cancer after cancer therapy. To examine the influence of germ cell manipulation on behavior of offspring, we produced [F.sub.1] offspring by a combination of two ARTs, spermatogonial transplantation and ICSI. When these animals were compared with [F.sub.1] offspring produced by ICSI using fresh wild-type sperm, not only spermatogonial transplantation- ICSI mice but also ICSI-only control mice exhibited behavioral abnormalities, which persisted in the [F.sub.2] generation. Furthermore, although these [F.sub.1] offspring appeared normal, [F.sub.2] offspring produced by IVF using [F.sub.1] sperm and wild- type oocytes showed various types of congenital abnormalities, including anophthalmia, hydrocephalus, and missing limbs. Therefore, ARTs can induce morphological and functional defects in mice, some of which become evident only after germline transmission., Introduction Since its first report in 1978, in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been used in assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) in humans (1). IVF is often used when a woman's fallopian [...]

We report a case of argyrophilic grain disease (AGD) with unique clinical and pathological presentations. A 52‐year‐old man presented with spastic quadriparesis, bulbar palsy, and mild cognitive decline. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died of pneumonia three years from onset. Pathologically, neuronal degeneration was involved severely in the amygdala, ambient gyrus, midbrain tegmentum, and reticular formation. The neurons of the temporal lobe, cingulate gyrus, brainstem, and spinal gray matter were also lost moderately. There was diffuse 4‐repeat tau‐pathology with argyrophilic grains. There were pretangles, globose‐type neurofibrillary tangles, and coiled bodies in the cerebral cortices, basal ganglia, thalami, brainstem, and the spinal cord except for the cerebellar cortices. There was no pathologic mutation in MAPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8) is a neurodegenerative condition that presents with several neurological symptoms, such as cerebellar ataxia, parkinsonism, and cognitive impairment. It is caused by a CTA/CTG repeat expansion on chromosome 13q21 (ataxin 8 opposite strand [ATXN8OS]). However, the pathological significance of this expansion remains unclear. Moreover, abnormal CTA/CTG repeat expansions in ATXN8OS have also been reported in other neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy. In this study, we analyzed all available autopsy cases in Japan to investigate common pathological features and profiles of tau pathology in each case. Severe neuronal loss in the substantia nigra and prominent loss of Purkinje cells, atrophy of the molecular layer, and proliferation of Bergmann glia in the cerebellum were common features. Regarding tauopathy, one case presented with progressive supranuclear palsy‐like 4‐repeat tauopathy in addition to mild Alzheimer‐type 3‐ and 4‐repeat tauopathy. Another case showed 3‐ and 4‐repeat tauopathy accentuated in the brainstem. The other two cases lacked tauopathy after extensive immunohistochemical studies. The present study confirmed common pathological features of SCA8 as degeneration of the substantia nigra in addition to the cerebellum. Our study also confirmed unique tauopathy in two of four cases, indicating the necessity to further collect autopsy cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spermatogenesis is one of the most complex and longest processes of sequential cell proliferation and differentiation in the body, taking more than a month from spermatogonial stem cells, through meiosis, to sperm formation (1,2). The whole process, therefore, has never been reproduced in vitro in mammals (3-5), nor in any other species with a very few exceptions in some particular types of fish (6,7). Here we show that neonatal mouse testes which contain only gonocytes or primitive spermatogonia as germ cells can produce spermatids and sperm in vitro with serum-free culture media. Spermatogenesis was maintained over 2 months in tissue fragments positioned at the gas-liquid interphase. The obtained spermatids and sperm resulted in healthy and reproductively competent offspring through microinsemination. In addition, neonatal testis tissues were cryopreserved and, after thawing, showed complete spermatogenesis in vitro. Our organ culture method could be applicable through further refinements to a variety of mammalian species, which will serve as a platform for future clinical application as well as mechanistic understanding of spermatogenesis., Studies on in vitro spermatogenesis date back to organ culture experiments about a century ago (8). In 1937, it was reported that spermatogenesis proceeded up to the pachytene stage of [...]