Study of insulin-like growth factor 1 effects on bovine type A spermatogonia proliferation and viability

Abstract

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the best candidates for exploitation in genetic improvement of cattle herds. In fact, SSCs transmit genetic information to future generations. In vitro improvement in proliferation and frozen-thawed SSCs numbers is therefore needed. In the present study, bovine SSCs were cocultured with Sertoli cells, with or without insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). During 16 days of incubation, 100 ng/mL IGF-1 showed higher efficacy in increasing the numbers and diameters of SSCs colonies than 40 and 150 ng/mL concentrations. Furthermore, 100 ng/mL IGF-1 increased the frozen/thawed cells' viability rate. Overall, these data demonstrate that usage of 100 ng/mL IGF-1 in vitro improves proliferation and postfreezing viability rate of SSCs.