A Novel Piggybac Transposon Inducible Expression System Identifies a Role for Akt Signalling in Primordial Germ Cell Migration

In this work, we describe a single piggyBac transposon system containing both a tet-activator and a doxycycline-inducible expression cassette. We demonstrate that a gene product can be conditionally expressed from the integrated transposon and a second gene can be simultaneously targeted by a short hairpin RNA contained within the transposon, both in vivo and in mammalian and avian cell lines. We applied this system to stably modify chicken primordial germ cell (PGC) lines in vitro and induce a reporter gene at specific developmental stages after injection of the transposon-modified germ cells into chicken embryos. We used this vector to express a constitutively-active AKT molecule during PGC migration to the forming gonad. We found that PGC migration was retarded and cells could not colonise the forming gonad. Correct levels of AKT activation are thus essential for germ cell migration during early embryonic development.     

小鼠原生殖细胞的研究进展

在动物的整个生命周期中,生殖细胞提供了各代间的连续性。对于多数动物来说,其生殖细胞不是在生殖腺中产生的,其前身原生殖细胞（ＰｒｉｍｏｒｄｉａｌＧｅｒｍＣｅｌ简称ＰＧＣ）是迁移到正在发育着的生殖腺中的。近年来,由于ＰＧＣ体外培养技术的不断完善,ＰＧＣ的...     

Primordial Germ Cell Specification from Embryonic Stem Cells

Background

Primordial germ cell (PGC) specification is the first crucial step in germ line development. However, owing to significant challenges regarding the in vivo system, such as the complex cellular environment and potential problems with embryo manipulation, it is desirable to generate embryonic stem (ES) cells that are capable of overcoming these aforementioned limitations in order to provide a potential in vitro model to recapitulate the developmental processes in vivo.

Methodology and Principal Findings

Here, we studied the detailed process of PGC specification from stella-GFP ES cells. We first observed the heterogeneous expression of stella in ES cells. However, neither Stella-positive ES cells nor Stella-negative ES cells shared a similar gene expression pattern with either PGCs or PGC precursors. Second, we derived PGCs from ES cells using two differentiation methods, namely the attachment culture technique and the embryoid body (EB) method. Compared with PGCs derived via the attachment culture technique, PGCs derived via the EB method that had undergone the sequential erasure of Peg3 followed by Igf2r resulted in a cell line in which the expression dynamics of T, Fgf8 and Sox17, in addition to the expression of the epiblast markers, were more similar to the in vivo expression, thus demonstrating that the process of PGC derivation was more faithfully recapitulated using the EB method. Furthermore, we developed an in vitro model of PGC specification in a completely chemically defined medium (CDM) that indicated that BMP4 and Wnt3a promoted PGC derivation, whereas BMP8b and activinA had no observable effect on PGC derivation.

Conclusions and Significance

The in vitro model we have established can recapitulate the developmental processes in vivo and provides new insights into the mechanism of PGC specification.     

A Zebrafish Model of Germ Cell Aneuploidy

The high frequency of chromosomal nondisjunction in human germ cells impacts society in many ways. Yet, the etiology of chromosome disorders remains unclear. Using a zebrafish strain with a hypomorphic mutation in the kinase Mps1, a genetic association between reduced germ cell mitotic checkpoint activity and aneuploid progeny was recently established. This work highlights the exquisite sensitivity of vertebrate germ cells to disruptions in Mps1 function and mitotic checkpoint activity. In addition, it introduces the zebrafish as a promising tool with which to further investigate the origins of aneuploidy.     

Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling and Primordial Germ Cell Development

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) give rise to sperms and eggs. Their development is crucial to species propagation and has to be precisely controlled. Studies in several model organisms have identified many genes involved in the specification and guided migration of PGCs. However, the mechanisms governing the behaviors of this unique type of cells remain to be investigated. Interestingly, PGCs share certain cellular properties with metastasizing cancer cells including proliferation, invasion of other tissues, survival, and migration. Recently we have shown that in Drosophila the receptor tyrosine kinase Torso activates both STAT and Ras during the early phase of PGC development. In later stages, activation of both STAT and Ras, likely by other molecules, is required continuously for PGC migration. The requirement for RTK suggests molecular conservation between flies and mice in PGC development and also suggests that germ cells and cancer cells share certain intracellular signaling strategies.     

FANCL在原始生殖细胞的形成和范可尼贫血中的功能研究

Fanconi氏贫血是一种罕见的常染色体隐性遗传性疾病,表现为进行性骨髓衰竭、先天性骨骼畸形和易患癌症等。Fanconi aremia（FA）病人细胞染色体自发不稳定,并对DNA交联剂如丝裂霉素C高度敏感。目前已发现11种FA蛋白参与形成了一种DNA损伤应答途径。新蛋白FANCL是FA复合物蛋白,作为E3连接酶催化FANCD2单一泛素化,泛素化FANCD2导向染色质与BRCA2相互作用,修复DNA损伤。FANCL、FANCC和FANCA等FA蛋白缺失造成生殖细胞缺失性不育,胚胎期生殖细胞中FA途径可能调控原始生殖细胞的增殖。FANCL和睾丸特异性蛋白质GGNBP1、GGNBP2以及OAZ3都与睾丸特异性蛋白质GGN1相互作用,形成睾丸特异性复合物,有可能在成年睾丸中影响精子生成。     

蒙古绵羊原始生殖细胞用于胚胎干细胞培养的研究

原始生殖细胞是用做分离和克隆胚胎干细胞的一种新的细胞资源。本研究将30-45日龄的蒙古绵羊胚胎生殖嵴及其临近组织用机械剪碎和胰蛋白酶+EDTA消化处理,添加DMEM（低糖）+10%FBS（犊牛血清）、38.0℃、5%CO2和饱和湿度条件下进行培养。其结果：未加任何细胞生长因子的情况下与其胎儿成纤维细胞共培养的方式也能分离得到类胚胎干细胞集落。这些集落细胞经多次克隆传代具有胚胎干细胞的诸多特征,如：具有连续传代的能力,细胞集落有典型鸟巢状结构,AKP染色呈阳性,核型分析结果染色体正常等。这些表明该细胞具有多能性,是绵羊类ES细胞。     

Niche Cell Wrapping Ensures Primordial Germ Cell Quiescence and Protection from Intercellular Cannibalism

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Derivation of Intermediate Pluripotent Stem Cells Amenable to Primordial Germ Cell Specification

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猪原始生殖细胞生物学特性的研究

胚胎生殖细胞（embryonic germ cell,EGC）是由胎儿原始生殖细胞（primordial germ cell,PGC）经体外驯化培养获得的一种多潜能干细胞。研究猪PGC生物学特性对于建立猪EGC及了解猪生殖细胞发育机制具有重要意义。该研究以原代培养的猪PGC为对象,探讨了其生长行为特征及其重编程过程中多能性、生殖系标志基因的表达模式。结果显示,26 d胚胎生殖嵴分离的PGC呈碱性磷酸酶阳性,细胞体积及核质比较大;体外培养初期呈现出较强的增殖及迁移能力,培养第5 d细胞增殖达到平台期,此时克隆高表达Oct4、Sox2、Nanog、c-Myc、Klf4和Ifi tm3（P〈0.05）,低表达Blimp1（P〈0.05）,Nanos1和Stella的表达水平与猪胎儿成纤维细胞无差异;猪PGC形成的原代克隆已经具有多向分化潜能。     

Sex Reversal in Zebrafish fancl Mutants Is Caused by Tp53-Mediated Germ Cell Apoptosis

The molecular genetic mechanisms of sex determination are not known for most vertebrates, including zebrafish. We identified a mutation in the zebrafish fancl gene that causes homozygous mutants to develop as fertile males due to female-to-male sex reversal. Fancl is a member of the Fanconi Anemia/BRCA DNA repair pathway. Experiments showed that zebrafish fancl was expressed in developing germ cells in bipotential gonads at the critical time of sexual fate determination. Caspase-3 immunoassays revealed increased germ cell apoptosis in fancl mutants that compromised oocyte survival. In the absence of oocytes surviving through meiosis, somatic cells of mutant gonads did not maintain expression of the ovary gene cyp19a1a and did not down-regulate expression of the early testis gene amh; consequently, gonads masculinized and became testes. Remarkably, results showed that the introduction of a tp53 (p53) mutation into fancl mutants rescued the sex-reversal phenotype by reducing germ cell apoptosis and, thus, allowed fancl mutants to become fertile females. Our results show that Fancl function is not essential for spermatogonia and oogonia to become sperm or mature oocytes, but instead suggest that Fancl function is involved in the survival of developing oocytes through meiosis. This work reveals that Tp53-mediated germ cell apoptosis induces sex reversal after the mutation of a DNA–repair pathway gene by compromising the survival of oocytes and suggests the existence of an oocyte-derived signal that biases gonad fate towards the female developmental pathway and thereby controls zebrafish sex determination.     

革胡子鲇原生殖细胞和早期间质细胞主动迁移时的超微结构

用电镜观察了革胡子鲇原生殖细胞和早期间质细胞主动迁移时的超微结构．这两种细胞具有伪足,伪足内有线粒体．两种细胞周围的间质细胞的排列比较疏松．在这两种细胞主动迁移时,细胞周围的空隙内分布有丰富的纤维状的结构,这种纤维状结构与这两种细胞的主动迁移有密切的联系．     

A Critical Function of Mad2l2 in Primordial Germ Cell Development of Mice

The development of primordial germ cells (PGCs) involves several waves of epigenetic reprogramming. A major step is following specification and involves the transition from the stably suppressive histone modification H3K9me2 to the more flexible, still repressive H3K27me3, while PGCs are arrested in G2 phase of their cycle. The significance and underlying molecular mechanism of this transition were so far unknown. Here, we generated mutant mice for the Mad2l2 (Mad2B, Rev7) gene product, and found that they are infertile in both males and females. We demonstrated that Mad2l2 is essential for PGC, but not somatic development. PGCs were specified normally in Mad2l2^−/− embryos, but became eliminated by apoptosis during the subsequent phase of epigenetic reprogramming. A majority of knockout PGCs failed to arrest in the G2 phase, and did not switch from a H3K9me2 to a H3K27me3 configuration. By the analysis of transfected fibroblasts we found that the interaction of Mad2l2 with the histone methyltransferases G9a and GLP lead to a downregulation of H3K9me2. The inhibitory binding of Mad2l2 to Cyclin dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1) could arrest the cell cycle in the G2 phase, and also allowed another histone methyltransferase, Ezh2, to upregulate H3K27me3. Together, these results demonstrate the potential of Mad2l2 in the regulation of both cell cycle and the epigenetic status. The function of Mad2l2 is essential in PGCs, and thus of high relevance for fertility.     

Purification of Mouse Primordial Germ Cells by MiniMACS Magnetic Separation System

During migration toward gonadal ridges, primordial germ cells (PGCs; the earliest identifiable germ cells in the embryo) are very few in number, move along different tissues, and are not identifiable by morphological criteria alone. Here we report the use of the magnetic cell sorter MiniMACS as a tool for the isolation of such rare cells from 10.5- to 13.5-days post coitum mouse embryos. Cells stained sequentially by TG-1 (a monoclonal IgM antibody known to bind to the surface of PGCs) and superparamagnetic microbeads coated with secondary anti-mouse IgM antibody were separated on a magnetic column. Unlabeled cells (somatic cells) pass through the column, while labeled cells (germ cells) are retained. The retained cells can be eventually easily eluted and immediately used for biochemical studies or grown in suitable in vitro culture systems.