Just twenty years ago I was preparing a research project centred on establishing methods for the isolation and culture of mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs). The project had been suggested to me by Anne McLaren and was to be developed at the Medical Research Council (MRC) "Mammalian Development Unit" in London under the direction of Anne herself. At that time I was a young postdoctoral research...

In the mouse embryo, significant numbers of primordial germ cells (PGCs) fail to migrate correctly to the genital ridges early in organogenesis. These usually die in ectopic locations. In humans, 50% of pediatric germ line tumors arise outside the gonads, and these are thought to arise from PGCs that fail to die in ectopic locations. We show that the pro-apoptotic gene Bax, previously shown to ...

Dysgerminomas are the most common of primitive germ cell tumors of the ovary, accounting for 1-5% of all ovarian malignancies. The reproductive age group females are most commonly affected, thereby causing problems in conception and if pregnancy occurs, it leads to feto-maternal compromise. It is extremely rare to have a successful natural pregnancy, with viable child birth with a coexisting dy...

Asexual reproduction in the annelid Enchytraeus japonensis entails the regeneration of primordial germ cells from body parts that lack gonads. New primordial germ cells arise from piwi-expressing germline stem cells that are distinct from somatic stem cells.

Dolly the sheep cloning “the first cloning process” was derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer and it had reported that the clone got premature senescence as a result of continues telomere shortening and ongoing decrease in telomerase activity by time; thus majority of recent researches is directed to use other types of donor cells to be transferred into the recipient enucleated oocyte to mai...

Elucidating the critical epigenetics events involved in differentiation and reprogramming of cells to primordial germ cells (PGCs) is among the interesting issues in stem cell research. Here, I will talk about critical transcription factors and global hypomethylation in development of germ cells. Evidence strongly suggests that the earliest PGCs emerging in the E7.25 mouse embryo epiblast have...

Single-cell migration is a key process in development, homeostasis, and disease. Nevertheless, the control over basic cellular mechanisms directing cells into motile behavior in vivo is largely unknown. Here, we report on the identification of a minimal set of parameters the regulation of which confers proper morphology and cell motility. Zebrafish primordial germ cells rendered immotile by kno...

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are embryonic precursors of the gametes of adult animals and are considered stem cells of the germline. Since their proliferation in vitro correlates well with the schedule of developmental changes in vivo, they might be interesting research tools for genomic imprinting, germ-cell tumors and fertility. Furthermore, once primordial germ cells are separated and placed...

The CCCH zinc finger protein PIE-1 is an essential regulator of germ cell fate that segregates with the germ lineage during the first cleavages of the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. We have shown previously that one function of PIE-1 is to inhibit mRNA transcription. Here we show that PIE-1 has a second function in germ cells; it is required for efficient expression of the maternally encoded Na...