Modulating the body's networks could become mainstream therapy for many health issues.
Image credit: The Feinstein Institutes for Medicine Research.
New Research In
Physical Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
The most critical step of mammalian embryogenesis in securing the future of the species comes just days after fertilization, and immediately after implantation into the uterine wall. At this time, a small subset of epiblast cells receives an inductive signal from neighboring extraembryonic tissue, the germ lineage is specified, and the resulting primordial germ cells (PGCs) are given full potential to eclipse the lifetime of the developing embryo in which they reside (1). After specification, PGCs migrate along the hindgut and through the dorsal mesentery to the genital ridge, the precursor to the gonad. Once there, PGCs commit to their germ cell fate and become encompassed by the developing gonad, where germline stem cells proliferate and ultimately undergo meiosis to produce oocytes and sperm (Fig. 1). In PNAS, Nicholls et al. (2) describe events that transpire upon PGC colonization of the genital ridge.
Fig. 1.
Pluripotency factors are induced upon specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and remain on while PGCs migrate with and through the hindgut to the primitive gonad, or genital ridge. Upon their arrival, DAZL becomes expressed and turns off pluripotency factors, committing PGCs to a germ cell fate.
This journey between PGC specification and germ cell determination lasts 4 d in mice and about 3 wk in humans …
↵1Email: dupdike{at}mdibl.org.
Log in using your username and password
Purchase access
You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
Quelling germ cell pluripotency on the genital ridge
Sign up for Article Alerts
You May Also be Interested in
Adaptations in heart structure and function likely enabled endurance and survival in preindustrial humans.
Image courtesy of Pixabay/Skeeze.
Viscoelastic carrier fluids enhance retention of fire retardants on wildfire-prone vegetation.
Image courtesy of Jesse D. Acosta.
Water requirements may make desert bird declines more likely in a warming climate.
Image courtesy of Sean Peterson (photographer).
QnAs with NAS member and plant biologist Sheng Yang He
Image courtesy of Sheng Yang He.
See related content: