Procedures for the isolation and culture of Sertoli cells from the testes of infant, juvenile, and adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

The purpose of the present study was to establish culture conditions for the in vitro study of the rhesus monkey Sertoli cell (Sc) at three major stages of development, namely infancy, adulthood, and the intervening prepubertal period. Conditions for the culture of Sc from juveniles were first established using collagenase and pancreatin digestion of seminiferous tubules. The addition of 1% fetal bovine serum for the first 24 h of culture was necessary for attachment of Sc clusters. Confluency of Sc from juveniles was reached as early as 4 days of culture. Histochemical and ultrastructural observations confirmed that the cultures were enriched with Sc and that contamination by peritubular cells was minimal (2%). Although application of similar culture conditions was successful in establishing cultures of Sc from infants, significant modification of the procedure was required before Sc from adults could be cultured. Specifically, adult testicular tissue required two sequential collagenase digestions at elevated temperature. The yield of adult Sc, however, remained low. Cultures of juvenile Sc produced substantial quantities of 31-kDa inhibin, which was bioactive as reflected by its ability to suppress FSH secretion from rat pituitary cells in vitro. Although aromatase activity in juvenile Sc cultures was stimulated by FSH, inhibin synthesis, as reflected by immunoactive inhibin production and steady-state levels of alpha inhibin mRNA, was not increased by FSH. The establishment of conditions for the culture of infant, juvenile, and adult Sc from the rhesus monkey will provide a model for study of the postnatal ontogeny of Sc function in higher primates.