Ovarian germ cell tumours comprise approximately 15% to 20% of all ovarian neoplasms. They are rapidly growing neoplasms that arise from primordial germ cells derived from the embryonal gonad. Malignant germ cell tumours comprise less than 5% of all ovarian neoplasms. Dysgerminomas are the most common type of malignant primitive germ cell tumours, accounting for 5-10% of ovarian cancers in pati...

The creation of the pool of follicles available for selection and ovulation is a multi-faceted, tightly regulated process that spans the period from embryonic development through to the first reproductive cycle of the organism. In mice, this development can occur in mere weeks, but in humans, it is sustained for years. Embryonic germ cell development involves the migration of primordial germs c...

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are derived from a population of pluripotent epiblast cells in mice. However, little is known about when and how PGCs acquire the capacity to differentiate into functional germ cells, while keeping the potential to derive pluripotent embryonic germ cells and teratocarcinomas. In this investigation, we show that epiblast cells and PGCs can establish colonies of sperm...

The in vitro culture conditions allowing survival and initial proliferation of murine primordial germ cells from 10.5 days post coitum embryos, which include the use of a murine embryonal fibroblast (STO) feeder, were applied to 21 human seminomas, composed of tumour cells which are considered as the malignant counterparts of human primordial germ cells. Cells from 18 seminomas attached poorly ...

Understanding the mechanisms of human germ cell biology is important for developing infertility treatments. However, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate human gametogenesis due to the difficulties in collecting samples, especially germ cells during fetal development. In contrast to the mitotic arrest of spermatogonia stem cells in the fetal testis, female germ cells proceed into ...

New work in Caenorhabditis elegans shows that during embryogenesis endodermal cells interact with and regulate primordial germ cells by actively excising and digesting germ cell lobes. Endodermal cells utilize proteins linked to endocytosis to perform this unique 'cannibalistic' process.

In Drosophila, as in many other organisms, primordial germ cells show invasive and migratory behavior moving from their site of origin to the somatic component of the gonad. At a characteristic time in development, the primordial germ cells pass across the primordium of the gut and migrate on its outer surface toward the mesoderm, where they eventually associate with the somatic tissues of the ...

In vitro derivation of germ cells from different stem cells sources has been challenging in the treatment of male infertility. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have an essential role in gene expression at post-transcriptional level. The aim of this research was to find more about miRNA-17 and miRNA-146 expression during differentiation of spermatogonial stem cell like cells (SSC like cells) from mouse bone m...