Induction of experimental autoimmune orchitis by immunization with xenogenic testicular germ cells in mice

Haploid germ cells (spermatids and spermatozoa) develop in the testis after immune tolerance has been established, therefore they contain various autoimmunogenic antigens. Experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) is a model of immunological male infertility. We previously established that two subcutaneous injections of viable syngeneic or allogeneic testicular germ cells (TGC) can induce CD4+T cell-dependent EAO in both A/J and C3H/He mice at a very high incidence (Itoh et al., 1991a; Tokunaga et al., 1993).

Source: Journal of Reproductive Immunology - April 27, 2017 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Ning Qu, Hayato Terayama, Yoshie Hirayanagi, Miyuki Kuramasu, Yuki Ogawa, Shogo Hayashi, Shuichi Hirai, Munekazu Naito, Masahiro Itoh Source Type: research