# An investigation of the therapeutic potential of the testicular tissue encapsulated in amnion membrane in mouse model: An experimental study

**Authors:** Keykavoos Gholami, Elahe Asheghmadine, Fateme Guitynavard, Leila Zareian Baghdadabad, Diana Taheri, Parisa Zahmatkesh, Leonardo Oliveira Reis, Seyed Mohammad Kazem Aghamir

PMC · DOI: 10.18502/ijrm.v23i2.18489 · International Journal of Reproductive Biomedicine · 2025-05-01

## TL;DR

This study tested if amnion membrane-derived hydrogel could protect testicular tissue during transplantation in mice, but found no significant benefits.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in evaluating hAM-derived hydrogel as a potential solution for hypoxia in testicular tissue transplantation.

## Key findings

- Hydrogel encapsulation had no significant effect on seminiferous tubule integrity or stem cell survival.
- No differences in hypoxia or apoptosis rates were observed between encapsulated and unencapsulated tissues.
- Sertoli cell functionality remained unaffected by hydrogel encapsulation.

## Abstract

Restoring fertility in male cancer individuals through testicular tissue transplantation faces challenges due to hypoxia-induced loss of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). Hydrogel encapsulation was explored to minimize hypoxic damage in testicular tissue transplantation. For this purpose, human amnion membrane (hAM)-derived hydrogel could be an alternative.

The potential of hAM-derived hydrogel to support testis tissue grafts was evaluated.

In this experimental study, testicular tissue samples (1–3 mm3) were obtained from 16 male NMRI mice (4–5 wk, 22 
±
 2 gr). These tissue fragments were either encapsulated within a hydrogel derived from a hAM or left unencapsulated (control) prior to being autologously transplanted beneath the dorsal skin of mice subjected to hemilateral or bilateral orchiectomy. The grafted testicular tissues were histologically evaluated for key parameters, including the integrity of seminiferous tubules, survival of SSCs, Sertoli cell functionality, as well as hypoxia and apoptosis on day 21.

No significant differences were observed between groups regarding ST integrity, number of SSCs, Sertoli cell functionality, or the rate of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and apoptosis (p 
≤
 0.05).

In conclusion, this study demonstrated no effect of hAM hydrogel encapsulation on the outcomes of testicular tissue transplantation.

## Linked entities

- **Species:** Mus musculus (taxon 10090)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** Zbtb16 (zinc finger and BTB domain containing 16) [NCBI Gene 235320] {aka PLZF, Zfp145, lu}, Alb (albumin) [NCBI Gene 11657] {aka Alb-1, Alb1, BCL001, BCL002, BPL001}, Hif1a (hypoxia inducible factor 1, alpha subunit) [NCBI Gene 15251] {aka HIF-1-alpha, HIF1-alpha, HIF1alpha, MOP1, bHLHe78}, Dntt (deoxynucleotidyltransferase, terminal) [NCBI Gene 21673] {aka Tdt}, Scgb2b3 (secretoglobin, family 2B, member 3) [NCBI Gene 100043326] {aka Abpbg3, Gm4362}, Epas1 (endothelial PAS domain protein 1) [NCBI Gene 13819] {aka HIF-2alpha, HIF2A, HLF, HRF, MOP2, bHLHe73}, Adm (adrenomedullin) [NCBI Gene 11535] {aka AM}, Shbg (sex hormone binding globulin) [NCBI Gene 20415] {aka ABP}, Eln (elastin) [NCBI Gene 13717] {aka E030024M20Rik}
- **Diseases:** hAM (MESH:D002821), azoospermia (MESH:D053713), sclerosis (MESH:D012598), cancer (MESH:D009369), dislocation (MESH:D004204), hypoxic (MESH:D002534), inflammatory (MESH:D007249), Hypoxia (MESH:D000860), male cancer (MESH:D018567), ischemia (MESH:D007511), necrosis (MESH:D009336)
- **Chemicals:** Genipin (MESH:C007834), Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (-), Hematoxylin (MESH:D006416), H&amp;E (MESH:D006371), oxygen (MESH:D010100), dUTP (MESH:C027078), water (MESH:D014867), xylazine (MESH:D014991), Triton X-100 (MESH:D017830), testosterone (MESH:D013739), Eosin (MESH:D004801), 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (MESH:C007293), sodium dodecyl sulfate (MESH:D012967), N-hydroxysuccinimide (MESH:C001426), glycosaminoglycans (MESH:D006025), NaOH (MESH:D012972), salt (MESH:D012492), chitosan (MESH:D048271), 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (MESH:D005022), CO2 (MESH:D002245), alginate (MESH:D000464), dimethylsulfoxide (MESH:D004121), hydrochloric acid (MESH:D006851), Paraformaldehyde (MESH:C003043), polysaccharide (MESH:D011134), Propidium iodide (MESH:D011419), paraffin (MESH:D010232)
- **Species:** Macaca (macaque, genus) [taxon 9539], Macaca mulatta (rhesus macaque, species) [taxon 9544], Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]
- **Cell lines:** hAM — Homo sapiens (Human), Finite cell line (CVCL_WB24)

## Full text

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## Figures

6 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12070051/full.md

## References

29 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12070051/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12070051