Mouse germ cell development: from specification to sex determination

Title: Mouse germ cell development: from specification to sex determination
Creator: Ewen, Katherine A.; Koopman, Peter
Relation: Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology Vol. 323, Issue 1, p. 76-93
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mce.2009.12.013
Publisher: Elsevier
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2010
Description: Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are embryonic progenitors for the gametes. In the gastrulating mouse embryo, a small group of cells begin expressing a unique set of genes and so commit to the germline. Over the next 3–5 days, these PGCs migrate anteriorly and increase rapidly in number via mitotic division before colonizing the newly formed gonads. PGCs then express a different set of unique genes, their inherited epigenetic imprint is erased and an individual methylation imprint is established, and for female PGCs, the silent X chromosome is reactivated. At this point, germ cells (GCs) commit to either a female or male sexual lineage, denoted by meiosis entry and mitotic arrest, respectively. This developmental program is determined by cues emanating from the somatic environment.
Subject: germ cell; gonad; specification; migration; proliferation; epigenetics; differentiation; meiosis; mitotic arrest
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/923291
Identifier: uon:9702
Identifier: ISSN:0303-7207
Language: eng
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