title: Stem cells: a perspective on oocytes.
abstract: Stem cells, with their unlimited self-renewal feature and their ability to differentiate into almost every mature cell type in the body, have enormous potential for research and therapeutic application. In this article, we review the formation of primordial germ cells, the precursors of adult gametocytes, from their specification to their migration to prospective gonads. We discuss recent studies that obtained germ cells from stem cells in vitro. We place special emphasis on studies that challenge the current dogma in reproductive biology that female mammals are born with a set number of nonrenewable germ cells in the ovary by showing germ cell renewal in the adult ovary.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, New York Medical College, Munger Pavilion Room 617, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oktem
authors.forename: Kutluk
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oktay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002465:Cell Movement; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006066:Gonads / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009866:Oogenesis; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012038:Regeneration; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*