The early human germ cell lineage does not express SOX2 during in vivo development or upon in vitro culture
The early human germ cell lineage does not express SOX2 during in vivo development or upon in vitro culture
NANOG, POU5F1, and SOX2 are required by the inner cell mass of the blastocyst and act cooperatively to maintain pluripotency in both mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Inadequacy of any one of them causes loss of the undifferentiated state. Mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs), from which pluripotent embryonic germ cells (EGCs) are derived, also express POU5F1, NANOG, and SOX2. Thus, a similar expression profile has been predicted for human PGCs. Here we show by RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry that human PGCs express POU5F1 and NANOG but not SOX2, with no evidence of redundancy within the group B family of human SOX genes. Although lacking SOX2, proliferative human germ cells can still be identified in situ during early development and are capable of culture in vitro. Surprisingly, with the exception of FGF4, many stem cell-restricted SOX2 target genes remained detected within the human SOX2-negative germ cell lineage. These studies demonstrate an unexpected difference in gene expression between human and mouse. The human PGC is the first primary cell type described to express POU5F1 and NANOG but not SOX2. The data also provide a new reference point for studies attempting to turn human stem cells into gametes by normal developmental pathways for the treatment of infertility.
embryonic, gamete biology, gene regulation, human, human development, human stem cell biology, primordial germ cells SOX2
852-858
Perrett, Rebecca M.
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Turnpenny, Lee
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Eckert, Judith J.
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O'shea, Marie
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Sonne, Si Brask
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Cameron, Iain T.
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Wilson, David I.
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Rajpert-De Meyts, Ewa R.
9c39f981-4c89-40aa-b375-145a8d4fcf77
Hanley, Neil A.
bf03f7bb-f377-44fb-8344-0bb1ca8b2ef9
1 May 2008
Perrett, Rebecca M.
f69582f3-9fc6-497f-9a3e-2b93f972fd17
Turnpenny, Lee
31a2fb0f-b76a-490a-845d-f9d9a1501d3d
Eckert, Judith J.
729bfa49-7053-458d-8e84-3e70e4d98e57
O'shea, Marie
2d186adb-2d33-4951-b5a0-ed69f3f00113
Sonne, Si Brask
94b061e0-c31b-4244-86fe-b1c462e59c7d
Cameron, Iain T.
f7595539-efa6-4687-b161-e1e93ff710f2
Wilson, David I.
1500fca1-7082-4271-95f4-691f1d1252a2
Rajpert-De Meyts, Ewa R.
9c39f981-4c89-40aa-b375-145a8d4fcf77
Hanley, Neil A.
bf03f7bb-f377-44fb-8344-0bb1ca8b2ef9
Perrett, Rebecca M., Turnpenny, Lee, Eckert, Judith J., O'shea, Marie, Sonne, Si Brask, Cameron, Iain T., Wilson, David I., Rajpert-De Meyts, Ewa R. and Hanley, Neil A.
(2008)
The early human germ cell lineage does not express SOX2 during in vivo development or upon in vitro culture.
Biology of Reproduction, 78 (5), .
(doi:10.1095/biolreprod.107.066175).
(PMID:18199879)
Abstract
NANOG, POU5F1, and SOX2 are required by the inner cell mass of the blastocyst and act cooperatively to maintain pluripotency in both mouse and human embryonic stem cells. Inadequacy of any one of them causes loss of the undifferentiated state. Mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs), from which pluripotent embryonic germ cells (EGCs) are derived, also express POU5F1, NANOG, and SOX2. Thus, a similar expression profile has been predicted for human PGCs. Here we show by RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry that human PGCs express POU5F1 and NANOG but not SOX2, with no evidence of redundancy within the group B family of human SOX genes. Although lacking SOX2, proliferative human germ cells can still be identified in situ during early development and are capable of culture in vitro. Surprisingly, with the exception of FGF4, many stem cell-restricted SOX2 target genes remained detected within the human SOX2-negative germ cell lineage. These studies demonstrate an unexpected difference in gene expression between human and mouse. The human PGC is the first primary cell type described to express POU5F1 and NANOG but not SOX2. The data also provide a new reference point for studies attempting to turn human stem cells into gametes by normal developmental pathways for the treatment of infertility.
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Published date: 1 May 2008
Keywords:
embryonic, gamete biology, gene regulation, human, human development, human stem cell biology, primordial germ cells SOX2
Organisations:
Dev Origins of Health & Disease
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 60126
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/60126
PURE UUID: 555d266d-ebc3-4d45-879b-46436c77513a
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Date deposited: 02 Sep 2008
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:00
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Contributors
Author:
Rebecca M. Perrett
Author:
Lee Turnpenny
Author:
Marie O'shea
Author:
Si Brask Sonne
Author:
Ewa R. Rajpert-De Meyts
Author:
Neil A. Hanley
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