title: The onset of germ cell migration in the mouse embryo.
abstract: Mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) are specified between embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) and E7.5, when they have been visualized as an alkaline phosphatase-positive (AP+) cell population in the developing allantois. By E8.5, they are embedded in the hind-gut epithelium. Previous experiments have suggested different sites for PGCs' origin, and it is unclear how they reach the gut epithelium. We have used transgenic mice expressing GFP under a truncated Oct4 promoter to visualize living PGCs. We find GFP+/AP+ cells in the posterior end of the primitive streak as a dispersed population of cells actively migrating into the allantois, and directly into the adjacent embryonic endoderm. Time-lapse analysis shows these cells to be actively migratory from the time they exit the primitive streak.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Copeland
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schöler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heasman
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wylie
mesh_terms: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase