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Martín Estermann

@martinestermann.bsky.social
194 followers 297 following 37 posts

Argentinian / Postdoctoral Fellow at CENSORED / Sex differentiation / Gonadal Development / #DevBio 🇦🇷🇦🇺🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈

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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🧵5/6 Although this protocol was tested in mice, we would love to see whether similar 3D-printed culture platforms can be adapted to other species. 🐸🐣🦎 Comparative gonad culture could open exciting ways to study conserved and species-specific mechanisms of sex differentiation.
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🧵4/6 This is the approach we used in our Cell Reports paper to ask metabolic questions in the fetal testis, including how glycogen and lactate metabolism support the male germ line. ⚡🧬 www.cell.com/cell-reports...
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🧵3/6 Fetal gonads are tiny, delicate, and develop fast. 🔬⏱️ A reliable culture system is essential not only to maintain gonads ex vivo, but also to perturb their development with chemicals, inhibitors, metabolites, or other treatments and ask how testis and ovary development change 🧪
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🧵1/6 Excited to share that our new STAR Protocols paper is out! 🧬✨ We describe an improved protocol for culturing mouse fetal gonads ex vivo using 3D-printable molds. 🐭🧫 www.cell.com/star-protoco...
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
6/ This reveals a metabolic coupling between Sertoli cells and germ cells in the fetal testis. Sertoli cells break down glycogen → lactate, which is then transported 🚀 to support germ cell survival.
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
5/ We then tested the lactate shuttle 🚀. Sertoli cells export lactate through MCT4, which can be imported by germ cells via MCT1. Blocking this transport phenocopied the glycogen loss: germ cells were reduced ⬇️
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
4/ When glycogen metabolism was disrupted: • Testicular lactate levels dropped • Germ cell numbers decreased ⬇️ This suggested that glycogen in Sertoli cells might be used to support germ cells metabolically.
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
3/ We tested whether glycogen 🍬is required for Sertoli cell differentiation. Surprisingly: ❌ Blocking glycogen synthesis does NOT prevent Sertoli cell fate. So glycogen isn’t needed to specify Sertoli cells. But something else was happening…
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
2/ One intriguing observation in mouse embryos 🐭 During sex determination, Sertoli cells accumulate large glycogen stores 🍬 Only between E11.5-E13.5 ⏱️ So… what is this glycogen doing?
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Honored to receive the 2026 R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology from the @anatomyorg.bsky.social 🏆 Excited to keep exploring how metabolism, genetics, and epigenetics shape gonadal development and cell differentiation 🧬Grateful to my mentors, collaborators, and lab mates who made this possible.
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
3/ Our model shows: ✅ High specificity for interstitial cells ✅ Activity in embryonic and adult reproductive tissues ✅ No recombination in Sertoli, granulosa, or germ cells ✅ Can also label Nr2f2+ lineages in other organs (lung, kidney)
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
🧵1/ 🚨 New tool for reproductive biology! We generated a Nr2f2-iCreERT2 mouse—an inducible Cre model that specifically targets interstitial cells in both male and female gonads. Read more in our new @biolreprod paper: 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/biol...
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
One of my favourite IF images is participating for the #SSR 2nd Annual #ReproBioArt Image Contest! Mind helping with a vote? ⬇️ woobox.com/2poyka/galle...
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Thrilled to see my images featured in this IRP NIH blog post! irp.nih.gov/blog/post/20... ✨🔬🎨📸 While they look pretty, both were actually used to expand our understanding of testicular biology and male fertility. Check out our research here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
So honoured to receive a Future of Science Fund scholarship and thrilled to share my latest research at #KSMetabDev25. This has been one of the most enlighting meetings I attended. Thank you @keystonesymposia.bsky.social
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Super proud of this milestone and grateful to our team at @NIEHS 🎉. If you're into sex development, #DevBio #LeydigCells #DSD #TestisDevelopment or #singlecell biology, take a look! 7/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Thus, Nr2f2 acts as a molecular gatekeeper of interstitial cell fate, with major implications for understanding DSDs and testicular development. 🧬 6/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Surprise finding: these Nr2f2+ progenitors also give rise to the testicular tunica: the fibrous outer capsule. 😲 And in Nr2f2 knockouts, the tunica fails to form. A previously unrecognized link between interstitium and structural integrity! 5/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Multiomic and ChIP-seq analyses revealed that NR2F2 maintains progenitor identity by suppressing differentiation into fetal Leydig cells. ☯️ 4/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
We identified a Nr2f2+ progenitor population that gives rise to fetal Leydig cells and other interstitial lineages. Deleting Nr2f2 led to: •Leydig cell loss •Testis dysgenesis •Cryptorchidism •Hypospadias Classic DSD features. ⚠️ 3/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
The interstitial compartment—home to steroidogenic Leydig cells—has been understudied compared to Sertoli and germ cells. We used single-nucleus multiomics to deeply characterize interstitial populations in the embryonic testis. 🔬2/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
🚨Excited to share my first postdoc paper, now published in Nature Communications! We uncover a key regulator of testis development and its link to differences of sex development (DSD). 🧵 🔗 nature.com/articles/s4146… 1/7
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
The Easter Bunny hits different when you work in a chicken lab, looks like even our eggs are getting festive this week #DevBio #LabLife
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
My proudest contribution to the repro community? Using the only BioRender commission available in my student account to create the testis icon back in 2020. Seeing it pop up in papers and presentations always makes me smile! 👨‍🔬🔬
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Martín Estermann @martinestermann.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
The 2025 season of MATEbolism Journal Club is now on! Over the last year, with @virginiasavy.bsky.social, we’ve explored how metabolism controls cell fate and epigenetics—while we metabolize cakes and snacks. Science fueled by sugar is back!! #Metabolism #Epigenetics #DevBio
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