Abstract: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are located on the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules in the testis.Due to the abilities of self-renewal and differentiation into sperm,SSCs are the only adult stem cell in male mammals which can transmit genetic information to the next generation.Studies of SSCs also have become one of the hot topics in stem cell research.However,at present,the studies of SSCs mostly focus on rodents while the research progress of porcine SSCs (pSSCs) is relatively slow,which is largely due to the slow progress on isolation,purification,and in vitro culture technology as well as molecular marker identification of pSSCs.The main problems include:Extremely low amount of pSSCs in the testis,lack of specific molecular markers of pSSCs;unestablished techniques of in vitro isolation,purification,and culture of pSSCs;imperfect in vitro culture system of pSSCs.These problems lead to the low efficiency of pSSCs isolation and purification,failure for long-term culture and passage in vitro,which in turn results in lack of pSSCs materials for related mechanism research,and inconvenience of their in vitro study as well as application.In this review,we briefly summarize the research progress of pSSCs,including the molecular markers,the methods of in vitro isolation,purification,and cultivation,as well as transplantation technology,so as to provide theoretical references for pSSC study,accelerating the study and application of pSSCs in the fields of pig genetics,breeding and reproduction as well as male reproductive medicine.

Key words: pigs; spermatogonial stem cells; molecular marker; isolation and purification; culture; transplantation