The Fate of the Male Germ Cell

ISBN-13: 9781461377115 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 332 str.

Richard Ivell; Adolf-Friedrich Holstein

Opis

THE FASCINATION The male germ cell is the only cell of the human organism that leaves the body when it has achieved its final, highly sophisticated structure and properties. The male germ cell is designed for one purpose only: to reach the female gametes and to fertilize them. The various stages in the development of the male germ cell are characterized by proliferative phases, by the recombination of the maternal and paternal chromosomes, and by the differentiation and development of a specialized transport vehicle, the spermato- zoon. Furthermore, the establishment of a special pool of stem cells, the spermatogonia, guarantees the continuity of the sperm-generation process from puberty to old age. THE FATE OF THE MALE GERM CELL The destiny of any individual germ cell is determined by a program that we know only in fragments. On the one hand every human male is able to produce many billions of germ cells in his lifetime, yet the chance of any single sperm reaching and fertilizing the female germ cell is exceedingly rare. A fertility disturbance means that somewhere during the complicated playing out of the germ cell program mistakes are made, and the program fails. It is still a fact that more than 50% of men presenting with male factor infertility have to be diagnosed as idiopathic, largely because of our lack of knowledge and conse- quent lack of appropriate diagnostic tools.

Spis treści

Human Reproduction-The Missing Parts of the Puzzle; B.P. Setchell. Genes, Chromosomes and Fertility: Human Y Chromosome Deletions in Yq11 and Male Fertility; P.H. Vogt. Frequency of Y-Chromosome Microdeletions; (Yq11.22-23) in Men with Reduced Sperm Quality Requesting Assisted Reproduction; A. Bonhoff, et al. Germ Cell Differentiation and Tumorigenesis: Endocrine Control of Germ Cell Proliferation in the Primate Testis: What Do We Really Know?; G.F. Weinbauer, E. Nieschlag. The Role of the Testicular Accessory Cells: Molecular Pathophysiology of the Pituitary-Gonadal Axis; M. Simoni, et al. Compartmentalization, Vascularization and Angiogenesis: Compartmentalization of the Intertubular Space in the Human Testis; A.F. Holstein, M. Davidoff. Post-Testicular Sperm Maturation: The Role of Apocrine Released Proteins in the Post-Testicular Regulation of Human Sperm Function; G. Aumüller, et al. Control of the Male and Female Tracts: Interactions Between Leukocytes and the Male Reproductive System: The Unanswered Question; A.G. Rossi, R.J. Aitken. Gamete Interaction and Fertilization: The Cell Biology of Fertilization; R.J. Aitken. 45 Additional Articles. Index.