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Method Article

Isolation of Immune Regulatory Sertoli Cells from Mouse Seminiferous Tubules

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July 8th, 2025

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Bhushan, S. et al., Isolation of Sertoli Cells and Peritubular Cells from Rat Testes. J. Vis. Exp. (2016).

This video demonstrates the isolation procedure of Sertoli cells from mouse seminiferous tubules, a component of the testes. Enzymatic digestion and repeated washes promote the release of Sertoli cells into the solution, which can be cultured further for proliferation and growth.

Protocol

All procedures involving animal models have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. Preparation of Media, Enzyme Solutions, and Animals

  1. Prepare 1% iodine alcohol by dissolving 1 g of iodine in 100 ml ethanol.
  2. Prepare 2x 500 ml Dulbecco´s phosphate buffered saline (PBS) without Ca2+ and Mg2+ supplemented each with 7.5 ml D-glucose (100 g/L) and 5 ml 100x Penicillin/Streptomycin stock solution (15 mg/ml D-glucose, 50 U/ml Penicillin and 50 µg/ml Streptomycin final).
  3. Supplement 1x 500 ml Ros....

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Results

Rodent ovary dissection, tissue isolation, and preservation for further analysis, experiment steps shown.
Figure 1. Testes from Wistar rats are excised and decapsulated. (A) The peritoneal cavity is opened through a longitudinal incision as described in the text. An asterisk (*) indicates the epidydimal fat pad. (B) Testes are removed by cutting the sperm.......

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Disclosures

No conflicts of interest declared.

Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Corning™ Cell Strainers 70 µmCorning431751White color
DAPI mountant ProLong® Gold AntifadeLife TechnologiesP-36931
D-glucoseSigmaG8644100 g/l
Dulbecco's PBS without Ca2+/Mg2+Gibco14190-094
DNase IRoche10104159001
Hyaluronidase from bovine testisSigmaH3506
Penicillin (5,000 U/ml) Streptomycin (5,000 µg/ml)Gibco15070-063100x solution
RPMI-1640Gibco21875-034Contains 300 mg/L L-glutamine
Trypsin from porcine pancreasSigmaT5266
Trypan Blue Stain (0.4%)Gibco15250-061
Trypsin inhibitor from soybeanSigmaT6522The Sigma product is considerably cheaper than the previously used BPTI (Aprotinin) from Roche.
Wistar WU ratsCharles RiverN/AShould be 19 days old on day of experiment.

Tags

Mouse TestesEnzymatic DigestionHyaluronidase TreatmentDNase DigestionHydrodynamic ShearingCell Strainer FiltrationSerum Free MediumTrypan Blue ExclusionCell Concentration Adjustment