Immunostaining to identify spermatogonia: potential for successful fertility in men with Klinefelter syndrome

Successful sperm retrieval using microdissection testicular sperm extraction (TESE) for men with Klinefelter syndrome (KS) hovers around 50%. In their recently published article, Deebel et al. (1) reported a retrospective cohort study for men with KS in which they analyzed the testicular samples for spermatogonia. The ultimate belief would be to preserve spermatogonia for future use once experimental stem cell transplantation or in vitro spermatogenesis becomes feasible. In this study, the investigators identified the spermatogonia from testicular biopsy samples by staining the specimens with MAGE-A4 and UCHL1 (PGP9.5) and compared the histologic features with those observed after staining with hemotoxin and eosin (H&E), which is the current gold standard.