Phase waves in spermatogenesis

26 Sep 2022 - Irene

In the epithelium of mouse seminiferous tubules, the production of mature sperm from undifferentiated stem cells occurs in a periodic fashion, known as the “seminiferous cycle”. During such a cycle, Sertoli cells change their function in accordance with the differentiation of germ cells under the regulation of retinoic acid (RA) signalling. In addition, the intensity of RA signalling has been observed to exhibit travelling phase waves along the length of the seminiferous tubules. Yet, the physical base of the phase wave is not understood. In this work, we construct a time-delayed model for the local cyclic behaviour, incorporating the feedback mechanisms between the RA concentration and germ line differentiation. Having established that the local model gives rise to sustained cycles, we propose a Kuramoto-type minimal model for the spatio-temporal phase profile and show that phase wave is a natural consequence of the model.

For further details, see my poster.