Probability of self‐renewing divisions of spermatogonial stem cells in colonies, formed after fission neutron irradiation

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Abstract
Repopulating spermatogenic colonies, found in the seminiferous epithelium after irradiation with fast‐fission neutrons, were studied to determine the cha nce that a stem cellAsingle (As spermatogonium would complete a self‐renewing division (P). Mathematical formulas originally derived for such studies in haemopoietic colonies were employed, and a method specifically aimed at spermatogenic colonies was developed. The results showed that during the first division after irradiation, P is close to 1 ‐0. P decreases in later generations, but remains 0‐7 or higher up to the 4th or 5th divisions. The mean value for P was over 0‐8, which is higher than the value of 0‐6‐0‐7 found for stem cells in haemopoietic colonies.