Germ Cell Specification in Mice
SciencePublished 19 April 2007
Katsuhiko Hayashi, Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes, M. Azim Surani
Citations254
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score10.42
SNIP6.62
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
Blim1 may have a role in the maintenance of early germ cell characteristics by ensuring their escape from the somatic fate as well as possible reversion to pluripotent stem cells.
Abstract
Specification of germ cells in mice occurs relatively late in embryonic development. It is initiated by signals that induce expression of Blimp1, a key regulator of the germ cell, in a few epiblast cells of early postimplantation embryos. Blimp1 represses the incipient somatic program in these cells and promotes progression toward the germ cell fate. Blimp1 may also have a role in the maintenance of early germ cell characteristics by ensuring their escape from the somatic fate as well as possible reversion to pluripotent stem cells.
Keywords
MedicineBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Genes & DevelopmentBmp4 is required for the generation of primordial germ cells in the mouse embryo
1,307 Citations1999Kirstie A. Lawson, N. Ray Dunn +6 more
Ch Chimera analysis indicates that it is the Bmp4 expression in the extraembryonic ectoderm that regulates the formation of allantois and primordial germ cell precursors, and the size of the founding population of PGCs.
CellDerivation of pluripotential embryonic stem cells from murine primordial germ cells in culture
1,214 Citations1992Yasuhisa Matsui, Krisztina M. Zsebo +1 more
It is shown that addition of bFGF to cultures in the presence of membrane-associated SF and LIF enhances the growth of PGCs and allows their continued proliferation beyond the time when they normally stop dividing in vivo.
Mechanisms of DevelopmentEpigenetic reprogramming in mouse primordial germ cells
1,186 Citations2002Petra Hájková, Sylvia Erhardt +6 more
It is shown that mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) exhibit dynamic changes in epigenetic modifications between days 10.5 and 12.5 post coitum (dpc), and it is suggested that this is an active demethylation process initiated upon the entry of PGCs into the gonadal anlagen.
NatureBlimp1 is a critical determinant of the germ cell lineage in mice
1,033 Citations2005Yasuhide Ohinata, Bernhard Payer +10 more
It is shown that Blimp1 (also known as Prdm1), a known transcriptional repressor, has a critical role in the foundation of the mouse germ cell lineage, as its disruption causes a block early in the process of primordial germ cell formation.
NatureA molecular programme for the specification of germ cell fate in mice
884 Citations2002Mitinori Saitou, Sheila C. Barton +1 more
It is shown that fragilis, an interferon-inducible transmembrane protein, marks the onset of germ cell competence, and it is proposed that through homotypic association, it demarcates germ cells from somatic neighbours.
NatureLong-term proliferation of mouse primordial germ cells in culture
871 Citations1992James L. Resnick, Lynn S. Bixler +2 more
This work reports a further factor that stimulates PGC proliferation in vitro, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), which, in the presence of steel factor and leukaemia inhibitory factor, stimulates long-term proliferation of PGCs, leading to the derivation of large colonies of cells.
CellGenetic and Epigenetic Regulators of Pluripotency
657 Citations2007M. Azim Surani, Katsuhiko Hayashi +1 more
Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulate the transition from the totipotent zygote to pluripotent primitive ectoderm cells in the inner cell mass of mouse blastocysts, and increasing knowledge of key underlying mechanisms heightens prospects for creating pluripresent cells directly from adult somatic cells.
Developmental BiologyExtensive and orderly reprogramming of genome-wide chromatin modifications associated with specification and early development of germ cells in mice
538 Citations2004Yoshiyuki Seki, Katsuhiko Hayashi +4 more
This orderly and extensive epigenetic reprogramming in premigratory and migratory germ cells might be necessary for their reacquisition of underlying totipotency, for subsequent specific epigenetic remodeling, including the resetting of parental imprints, and for the production of gametes with an appropriate epigenotype for supporting normal development.
Development<i>Hex</i>: a homeobox gene revealing peri-implantation asymmetry in the mouse embryo and an early transient marker of endothelial cell precursors
530 Citations1998Paul Q. Thomas, Angus M. Brown +1 more
Hex expression indicates that the anteroposterior axis of the mouse embryo develops from conversion of a proximodistal asymmetry established in the primitive endoderm lineage and its expression within the gut strongly suggests that the ventral foregut is derived from the most anterior definitiveEndoderm and that the liver is probably the most posterior gut derivative.
CellSmad2 Signaling in Extraembryonic Tissues Determines Anterior-Posterior Polarity of the Early Mouse Embryo
472 Citations1998W. Ross Waldrip, Elizabeth K. Bikoff +3 more
The extraembryonic tissues play critical roles in establishing the body plan during early mouse development by serving to restrict the site of primitive streak formation and establish anterior-posterior identity within the epiblast.
Nature Cell BiologyBlimp1 associates with Prmt5 and directs histone arginine methylation in mouse germ cells
462 Citations2006Katia Ancelin, Ulrike C. Lange +5 more
It is demonstrated that Blimp1 is involved in a novel transcriptional regulatory complex in the mouse germ-cell lineage, which mediates symmetrical dimethylation of arginine 3 on histone H2A and/or H4 tails (H2A/H4R3me2s).
Molecular EndocrinologyRequirement of Bmp8b for the Generation of Primordial Germ Cells in the Mouse
418 Citations2000Ying Ying, Xiao-Ming Liu +3 more
It is suggested that BMP4 and BMP8B function as heterodimer and homodimers in PGC specification in the mouse.
Developmental BiologyCooperation of Endoderm-Derived BMP2 and Extraembryonic Ectoderm-Derived BMP4 in Primordial Germ Cell Generation in the Mouse
393 Citations2001Ying Ying, Guang-Quan Zhao
The results suggest that PGC generation in the mouse embryo is regulated not only by extraembryonic ectoderm-derived BMP4 and BMP8B, but also by endoderm of mouse pregastrula and gastrula embryos derived from BMP2.
Developmental BiologyThe Allocation of Epiblast Cells to Ectodermal and Germ-Line Lineages Is Influenced by the Position of the Cells in the Gastrulating Mouse Embryo
388 Citations1996Patrick Tam, Sheila X. Zhou
The adoption of developmental fate that is typical of the cell population at the site of transplantation suggests that the specification of cell lineages is subject to certain site-specific influences in the epiblast.
DevelopmentMouse embryos lacking Smad1 signals display defects in extra-embryonic tissues and germ cell formation
379 Citations2001Kimberly D. Tremblay, N. Ray Dunn +1 more
Interestingly, despite the key involvement of BMP signaling in tissues of the embryo proper, Smad1-deficient embryos develop remarkably normally, suggesting an essential role for Smad 1-dependent signals in primordial germ cell specification.
DevelopmentThe zinc finger transcriptional repressor Blimp1/Prdm1 is dispensable for early axis formation but is required for specification of primordial germ cells in the mouse
343 Citations2005Stéphane D. Vincent, N. Ray Dunn +6 more
Blimp1 probably acts to turn off the default pathway that allows epiblast cells to adopt a somatic cell fate, and shifts the transcriptional program so that they become exclusively allocated into the germ cell lineage.
Biology of ReproductionGene Expression Dynamics During Germline Specification in Mice Identified by Quantitative Single-Cell Gene Expression Profiling1
288 Citations2006Yukihiro Yabuta, Kazuki Kurimoto +3 more
The information presented here regarding the cascade of events involved in PGC development should serve as a basis for detailed functional analyses of the gene products associated with this process, as well as for appropriate reconstitution of PGCs and their descendant cells in culture.
Gene Expression PatternsNanog expression in mouse germ cell development
277 Citations2005Shinpei Yamaguchi, Hironobu Kimura +3 more
In germ cell development, NANOG is expressed in proliferating germ cells, in which nuclear reprogramming is progressing, and Knockout experiments indicate that Nanog functions as a key player in maintaining the pluripotency of stem cells.
DevelopmentDifferential requirements for Smad4 in TGFβ-dependent patterning of the early mouse embryo
224 Citations2004Gerald C. Chu, N. Ray Dunn +3 more
The results suggest that Smad4 potentiates a subset of TGFβ-related signals during early embryonic development, but is dispensable for others.
Mechanisms of DevelopmentSmad5 is required for mouse primordial germ cell development
206 Citations2001Hua Chang, Martin M. Matzuk
Smad5 is an important factor involved in PGC generation and localization and the total number of PGCs was greatly reduced or completely absent in Smad5 mutant embryos, similar to Bmp4 or Bmp8b mutant embryos.
Current BiologyEmbryonic Cleavage Cycles: How Is a Mouse Like a Fly?
198 Citations2004Patrick H. O’Farrell, Jason Stumpff +1 more
It is proposed that comparison to the rapid peri-gastrulation cycles is more appropriate and suggested that these cycles are related by evolutionary descent to the early cleavage stages of embryos such as those of frog and fly.
Genes & DevelopmentBMP signaling mediated by ALK2 in the visceral endoderm is necessary for the generation of primordial germ cells in the mouse embryo
190 Citations2004Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes, Bernard A.J. Roelen +6 more
It is demonstrated that BMP4 produced in the extraembryonic ectoderm signals through ALK2, a type I BMP receptor, in the visceral endoderm (VE) to induce formation of PGCs from the epiblast, and proposed a model in which direct signaling to proximal epiblasts is supplemented by an obligatory indirect BMP-dependent signal via the VE.
ScienceGerm Versus Soma Decisions: Lessons from Flies and Worms
183 Citations2007Susan Strome, Ruth Lehmann
Studies in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and fruit fly Drosophila identify some of the decision-making strategies, including segregation of a specialized germ plasm and global transcriptional regulation.
Developmental BiologyDose-dependent Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 signaling in the early mouse embryo
157 Citations2006Sebastian J. Arnold, Silvia Maretto +3 more
It is demonstrated for the first time that Smad1 and Smad5 function cooperatively to govern BMP target gene expression in the early mammalian embryo.
Mechanisms of DevelopmentSMAD1 signaling is critical for initial commitment of germ cell lineage from mouse epiblast
155 Citations2002Katsuhiko Hayashi, Takashi Kobayashi +4 more
It is shown that the intracellular signaling molecule SMAD1, acting downstream of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptors, is required for the commitment of germ cell lineage from epiblast in early mouse embryos.
Stem CellsThe Role of Exogenous Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 on the Reprogramming of Primordial Germ Cells into Pluripotent Stem Cells
121 Citations2006Gabriela Durcova‐Hills, Ian R. Adams +3 more
It is proposed that it is from this reprogrammed component of the now heterogeneous PGC population that pluripotent stem cells arise.
DevelopmentStage-specific tissue and cell interactions play key roles in mouse germ cell specification
118 Citations2001Tomomi Yoshimizu, Masuo Obinata +1 more
It is demonstrated that stage-dependent tissue and cell interactions play key roles in PGC determination, and interactions among a cluster of a specific number of proximal epiblast cells is needed for PGC differentiation.
Current BiologyThe Sm-Protein Methyltransferase, Dart5, Is Essential for Germ-Cell Specification and Maintenance
115 Citations2006Graydon B. Gonsalvez, T. K. Rajendra +2 more
It is shown that Dart5-mediated methylation of Sm proteins is not essential for snRNP biogenesis, and a novel role for dart5 is uncovered in specification of the germline and in spermatocyte maturation.
DifferentiationHow is the mouse germ-cell lineage established?
88 Citations2005Anne McLaren, Kirstie A. Lawson
Six cells have been detected in the early mouse embryo that express the transcriptional repressor Blimp1--as also do all the 40 or so cells that constitute the founder germ cell pool a day later, prompting the question whether these half-dozen cells are the ancestors of the entire mouse germ cell lineage.
DevelopmentArginine methyltransferase Capsuleen is essential for methylation of spliceosomal Sm proteins and germ cell formation in <i>Drosophila</i>
78 Citations2006Jozef Anné, Roger Ollo +2 more
The Drosophila PRMT Capsuléen, homologous to human PRMT5, is characterized and the role of a PRMT in protein localization in germ cells is revealed, indicating that Tudor localization and Sm methylation are separate processes.
Developmental BiologyThe Sm proteins regulate germ cell specification during early C. elegans embryogenesis
31 Citations2006Scott A. Barbee, Thomas C. Evans
It is suggested that novel Sm RNPs directly or indirectly influence posttranscriptional control of maternal mRNAs to promote germ cell specification in the early C. elegans embryo.