During directed cell migration, telling cells to avoid certain areas may be as important as attracting them to others. The recently identified wunen gene is involved in the repulsive guidance of migrating primordial germ cells in Drosophila.

The mouse Blimp1 gene encodes a transcriptional repressor that is essential for B-cell development. Recent studies have shown that the Blimp1 protein also plays a critical role in the specification of mouse primordial germ cells.

Germ cell development is a step-wise process that ensures the progression of the life cycle due to their unique ability to transmit their genome from one generation to the next. In the mouse, the precursors of germ cells, the Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs), arise at the onset of gastrulation. Here we discuss how PGCs acquire their fate in the epiblast and outline their development until their arr...

Embryos of many animal models express germ line determinants that suppress transcription and mediate early germ line commitment, which occurs before the somatic cell lineages are established. However, not all animals segregate their germ line in this manner. The ‘last cell standing’ model describes primordial germ cell (PGC) development in axolotls, in which PGCs are maintained by an extracellu...

Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are the most frequent solid malignant tumors in men 20-40 years of age and the most frequent cause of death from solid tumors in this age group. TGCTs comprise two major histologic groups: seminomas and non-seminomas germ cell tumors (NSGCTs). NSGCTs can be further divided into embryonal carcinoma, Teratoma, yolk sac tumor, and choriocarcinoma. Seminomas and ...

We provide the first systematic description of germ cell development with molecular markers in a myriapod, the centipede Strigamia maritima. By examining the expression of Strigamia vasa and nanos orthologues, we find that the primordial germ cells are specified from at least the blastoderm stage. This is a much earlier embryonic stage than previously described for centipedes, or any other memb...

Maintaining cell fate relies on robust mechanisms that prevent the differentiation of specified cells into other cell types. This is especially critical during embryogenesis, when extensive cell proliferation, patterning, and migration events take place. Here we show that vertebrate primordial germ cells (PGCs) are protected from reprogramming into other cell types by the RNA-binding protein De...

The tumor suppressor gene PTEN, which is frequently mutated in human cancers, encodes a lipid phosphatase for phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] and antagonizes phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase. Primordial germ cells (PGCs), which are the embryonic precursors of gametes, are the source of testicular teratoma. To elucidate the intracellular signaling mechanisms that underlie ...

Germ cell development creates totipotency through genetic as well as epigenetic regulation of the genome function. Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the first germ cell population established during development and are immediate precursors for both the oocytes and spermatogonia. We here summarize recent findings regarding the mechanism of PGC development in mice. We focus on the transcriptional ...