title: Hybridization of testis-derived stem cells with somatic cells and embryonic stem cells in mice.
abstract: Somatic cell hybridization is widely used to study the control of gene regulation and the stability of differentiated states. In contrast, the application of this method to germ cells has been limited in part because of an inability to culture germ cells. In this study, we produced germ cell hybrids using germ-line stem (GS) cells and multipotent germ-line stem (mGS) cells. While GS cells are enriched for spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) activity, mGS cells are similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells and originally derived from GS cells. Hybrids were successfully obtained between GS cells and ES cells, between GS cells and mGS cells, and between mGS cells and thymocytes. All exhibited ES cell markers and a behavior similar to ES cells, formed teratomas, and differentiated into somatic cell tissues. However, none of the hybrid cells were able to reconstitute spermatogenesis after microinjection into seminiferous tubules. Analyses of the DNA methylation patterns of imprinted genes also showed that mGS cells do not possess a DNA demethylation ability, which was found in embryonic germ cells derived from primordial germ cells. However, mGS cells reactivated the X chromosome and induced Pou5f1 expression in female thymocytes in a manner similar to ES cells. These data show that mGS cells possess ES-like reprogramming potential, which predominates over-SSC activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takehashi
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Mito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanatsu-Shinohara
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kazuki
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oshimura
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinohara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002459:Cell Fusion; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells; D005260:Female; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D005854:Germ Cells; D006822:Hybrid Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D013724:Teratoma / Q000209:etiology; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; C494174:Pou5f1 protein, mouse