Orwig Research Group

Principal Investigator: Kyle Orwig, PhD

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the foundation of spermatogenesis, the process that produces sperm throughout the post-pubertal life of men, and are therefore essential for male fertility. SSCs are adult tissue stem cells that can be transplanted to restore fertility in infertile males. The laboratory’s research focuses on the dynamics of male germ lineage development, which establishes the pool of SSCs and the mechanisms that regulate SSC self-renewal and differentiation, ensuring continuous sperm production. The Orwig lab is actively investigating the feasibility and safety of translating SSC transplantation to the male fertility/infertility clinic.

Check out the Fertility Preservation Program at MWRI, led by Dr. Orwig.

Administrative Contact

Jennifer Shuttleworth

Phone: 412-641-2415
Fax: 412-641-3899
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Lab Members

Yi Sheng, MD PhD                                   

Research Assistant Professor
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Kathrin Gassei, PhD                 

Postdoctoral Associate
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Meena Sukhwani, PhD                 

Research Manager
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Melanie Ochalski, MD

REI Fellow
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Chih-Cheng Lin, MS                 

Research Associate 
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Hanna Valli, BS                                   

Graduate Student
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Julia Pascarella, BS                 

Research Assistant
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Karen Peters, BS

Research Associate
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Bart Phillips, BS                                   

Graduate Student      
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Jen Shuttleworth, BS                 

Research Manager
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Gosia Skaznik-Wikiel, MD

Assistant Professor
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Zhenxing Zhang, MD

Postdoctoral Associate
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Selected Publications

  • Clark AT, Phillips BT and Orwig KE. Fruitful progress to fertility: Male fertility in the test tube. Nat Med.; 17:1564-5, 2011.
  • Hermann BP, Sukhwani M, Salati J, Sheng Y, Chu T, Orwig KE. Separating spermatogonia from cancer cells in contaminated prepubertal primate testis cell suspensions. Human Reprod.; 26:3222-31, 2011.
  • Hermann BP, Phillips BT and Orwig KE. The Elusive Spermatogonial Stem Cell Marker? Biol. Reprod.; 85:221-3, 2011.
  • Hermann BP and Orwig KE. Translating spermatogonial stem cell transplantation to the clinic. In: KE Orwig and BP Hermann (eds.) Male Germline Stem Cells: Developmental and Regenerative Potential. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. New York: Humana Press. 227-253, 2011.
  • Simerly C, McFarland D, Castro C, Lin CC, Redinger C, Jacoby E, Mich-Basso J, Orwig K, Mills P, Ahrens E, Navara C, Schatten G. Interspecies chimera between primate embryonic stem cells and mouse embryos: Monkey ESCs engraft into mouse embryos, but not post-implantation fetuses. Stem Cell Res; 7:28-40, 2011.
  • Ochalski ME, Shuttleworth JJ, Chu T, Orwig KE. Thalidomide treatment attenuates chemotherapy-induced gonadal toxicity. Fertil Steril; 95:819, 2011.
  • Hermann BP, Sukhwani M, Hansel MC and Orwig KE. Spermatogonial stem cells in higher primates: are there differences from those in rodents? Reproduction;139: 479–493, 2010.
  • Phillips BT, Gassei K, and Orwig KE. Spermatogonial stem cell regulation and spermatogenesis. Phil Trans R Soc B; 365, 1663-1678, 2010.
  • Ben-Yehudah A, Easley CA 4th, Hermann BP, Castro C, Simerly C, Orwig KE, Mitalipov S, Schatten G. Systems biology discoveries using non-human primate pluripotent stem and germ cells: novel gene and genomic imprinting interactions as well as unique expression patterns. Stem Cell Res Ther ; 1:24, 2010.  
  • Sheng Y, Lin CC, Yue J, Sukhwani M, Shuttleworth JJ, Chu T, Orwig KE. Generation and characterization of a Tet-On (rtTA-M2) transgenic rat. BMC Dev Bio; 10:17, 2010.  
  • Hermann BP, Sukhwani M, Simorangkir DR, Chu T, Plant TM,& Orwig KE. Molecular dissection of the male germ cell lineage identifies putative spermatogonial stem cells in rhesus macaques. Hum Reprod, 24(7):1704-16, 2009.
  • Escamilla-Hernandez R, Little-Ihrig L, Orwig KE, Yue J, Chandran U, & Zeleznik AJ. Constitutively active protein kinase A qualitatively mimics the effects of follicle-stimulating hormone on granulosa cell differentiation. Mol Endocrinol, 22(8):1842-52, 2008.
  • Orwig KE, Ryu BY, Master S, Phillips BT, Mack M, Avarbock MR, & Brinster RL. Genes involved in post-transcriptional regulation are over represented in stem/progenitor spermatogonia of cryptorchid mouse testes. Stem Cells, 26(4):927-38, 2008.
  • Yue J, Sheng Y, & Orwig KE. Identification of novel homologous microRNA genes in the rhesus macaque genome. BMC Genomics, 9(1):8, 2008.
  • Hermann BP, Sukhwani M, Lin CC, Sheng Y, Tomko J, Rodriguez M, Shuttleworth JJ, McFarland D, Hobbs RM, Pandolfi PP, Schatten GP, & Orwig KE. Characterization, cryopreservation and ablation of spermatogonial stem cells in adult rhesus macaques. Stem Cells, 25(9):2330-8, 2007.
  • Navara CS, Mich-Basso JD, Redinger CJ, Ben-Yehudah A, Jacoby E, Kovkarova-Naumovski E, Sukhwani M, Orwig K, Kaminski N, Castro CA, Simerly CR, & Schatten G. Pedigreed primate embryonic stem cells, express homogeneous familial gene profiles. Stem Cells, 25(11):2695-704, 2007.
  • Ryu BY, Orwig KE, Oatley JM, Avarbock MR, & Brinster RL. Effects of aging and niche microenvironment on spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal. Stem Cells, 24(6):1505-11, 2006.
  • Buageaw A, Sukhwani M, Ben-Yehudah A, Ehmcke J, Rawe VY, Pholpramool C, Orwig KE, & Schlatt S. GDNF family receptor alpha1 phenotype of spermatogonial stem cells in immature mouse testes. Biol Reprod, 73(5):1011-16, 2005.
  • Orwig KE & Schlatt S. Cryopreservation and transplantation of spermatogonia and testicular tissue for preservation of male fertility. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr, 34:51-6, 2005.
  • Costoya JA, Hobbs RM, Barna M, Cattoretti G, Manova K, Sukhwani M, Orwig KE, Wolgemuth DJ, & Pandolfi PP. Essential role of Plzf in maintenance of spermatogonial stem cells. Nat Gen, 36: 653-9, 2004.
  • Brinster CJ, Ryu BY, Karagenc L, Brinster RL, & Orwig KE. Restoration of fertility by germ cell transplantation requires effective recipient preparation. Biol Reprod, 69:412-20, 2003.

Publications on PubMed

View Publications on PubMed

Services & Programs

The Transgenic and Molecular Core Facility of Magee-Womens Research Institute provides state-of-the-art services for generating transgenic mice/rats and knockout mice. The facility also produces replication defective lentiviral vectors for delivering recombinant transgenes and performs teratoma and chimera analyses to evaluate stem cell developmental potential.

The Fertility Preservation Program of Pittsburgh educates patients and their physicians about the reproductive consequences of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer or other conditions while developing pioneering reproductive technologies to preserve fertility. The program rapidly translates these state-of-the-art technologies to the clinic, and trains the next generation of clinicians and researchers in the rapidly evolving discipline of fertility preservation.

Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology

Center for Research in Reproductive Physiology

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