title: Turning germ cells into stem cells.
abstract: Primordial germ cells (PGCs), the embryonic precursors of the gametes of the adult animal, can give rise to two types of pluripotent stem cells. In vivo, PGCs can give rise to embryonal carcinoma cells, the pluripotent stem cells of testicular tumors. Cultured PGCs exposed to a specific cocktail of growth factors give rise to embryonic germ cells, pluripotent stem cells that can contribute to all the lineages of chimeric embryos including the germline. The conversion of PGCs into pluripotent stem cells is a remarkably similar process to nuclear reprogramming in which a somatic nucleus is reprogrammed in the egg cytoplasm. Understanding the genetics of embryonal carcinoma cell formation and the growth factor signaling pathways controlling embryonic germ cell derivation could tell us much about the molecular controls on developmental potency in mammals.
authors.affiliation: Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 South 10th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA. pdonovan@lac.jci.tju.edu
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: Maria P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: de Miguel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D054278:Embryonal Carcinoma Stem Cells; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C494929:PTEN protein, human