Sertoli cell

English

Etymology

Named for Enrico Sertoli, who published the first description of these cells in 1865.

Noun

Sertoli cell (plural Sertoli cells)

1. (anatomy) A kind of sustentacular cell which serves as a "nurse" cell of the testes and which is part of a seminiferous tubule.
   • 2015, Claire Ainsworth, ‘Sex redefined’, Nature, volume 518, number 7539:

     In 2009, researchers reported7 deactivating an ovarian gene called Foxl2 in adult female mice; they found that the granulosa cells that support the development of eggs transformed into Sertoli cells, which support sperm development.