title: Emerging methods to generate artificial germ cells from stem cells.
abstract: Germ cells are responsible for the transmission of genetic and epigenetic information across generations. At present, the number of infertile couples is increasing worldwide; these infertility problems can be traced to environmental pollutions, infectious diseases, cancer, psychological or work-related stress, and other factors, such as lifestyle and genetics. Notably, lack of germ cells and germ cell loss present real obstacles in infertility treatment. Recent research aimed at producing gametes through artificial germ cell generation from stem cells may offer great hope for affected couples to treat infertility in the future. Therefore, this rapidly emerging area of artificial germ cell generation from nongermline cells has gained considerable attention from basic and clinical research in the fields of stem cell biology, developmental biology, and reproductive biology. Here, we review the state of the art in artificial germ cell generation.
authors.affiliation: The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China fanhui_zeng75@126.com.
authors.forename: Fanhui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Science, Hubei University for Nationalities, Enshi, China.
authors.forename: Fajun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xingchang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Molecular Biology, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China changbai_liu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Changbai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Medical School, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China biomed_wang@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005718:Gametogenesis; D005854:Germ Cells; D006801:Humans; D018456:Reproductive Medicine / Q000639:trends; D013234:Stem Cells
keywords: differentiation; gamete biology; gametogenesis; germ cells; germline; infertility; stem cells