A Sertoli cell is a supporting somatic biological cell within a seminiferous tubule of the testis. It helps maintain the local environment in which germ cells develop through spermatogenesis. A Sertoli cell supports the sperm-producing lineage; it is not itself a developing sperm.
A 2014 experiment tested whether these cells were required only during development or also in the adult. Investigators engineered adult MICE so that Sertoli cells could be selectively removed after exposure to a toxin. Subsequent examination showed loss of germ-cell populations, while the overall tubular framework persisted. Leydig cell numbers also fell substantially. Removing one supporting population thus disrupted both sperm production and another cell population elsewhere in the testis.[ref]
Sertoli cells maintain Leydig cell number and peritubular myoid cell activity in the adult mouse testis by Diane Rebourcet and others. Abstract; Results and Figures1,2,6: selective ablation and cell-population changes
The interpretation depends on comparing cellular function with gross appearance. A tubule can remain recognizable in a section while losing the cells and interactions needed for normal spermatogenesis. The experiment establishes a continuing requirement for Sertoli cells in this adult mouse model; it does not show that every affected neighboring cell normally contacts a Sertoli cell directly.
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