Hedgehog Signalling in Spermatogenesis

男性的生育能力需要在睾丸中产生足够的健康精子。我们发现，在精子发育过程中，成年睾丸中的细胞通过Hedgehog （Hh）信号通路进行交流。我们建议使用一种高度特异性的药物来抑制Hh活性，以描述Hh信号影响精子产生的精确步骤。我们将研究Hh在维持精原干细胞中的重要性，并创建小鼠模型来了解它是如何控制的。

Male fertility requires sufficient production of healthy sperm in the testis. We discovered that cells in the adult testis communicate via the Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway as sperm develop. We propose to use a highly specific drug to inhibit Hh activity in order to delineate the precise steps in sperm production affected by Hh signalling. We will study the importance Hh in maintenance of spermatogonial stem cells and create mouse models to learn how it is controlled.