Induction of germline fate from pluripotent stem cells in experimental animals

 

Toshihiro Kobayashi^1,2

¹ Division of Mammalian Embryology, Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo

² Center for Genetic Analysis of Behavior, National Institute for Physiological Sciences

 

Specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs), the founder cells of sperm and eggs, is amongst the first crucial branch points where the pluripotent epiblast cells are subject to germline versus soma cell fate decision. Although low numbers (~40 in mice) of PGCs in the early embryos offer limited access to the crucial time window, recent progress of in vitro systems to induce PGC-like cells (PGCLCs) from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) allows us to uncover extrinsic and intrinsic determinants that can specify PGCs. Application of this in vitro systems to a variety of model organism PSCs, including humans, has revealed conserved and divergent mechanisms underlying PGC specification amongst mammals. Recently, we have studied germline specification and development in widely used experimental animals, rats and rabbits, which are relatively close to the mice but have unique features, respectively. In this seminar, I would like to present our progress of in vitro PGCLC induction in these model animals.