Fiche publication
Date publication
décembre 2004
Journal
Medecine sciences : M/S
Auteurs
Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Pr VIVILLE Stéphane
,
Dr FUHRMANN Guy
Tous les auteurs :
Machev N, Fuhrmann G, Viville S
Lien Pubmed
Résumé
In sexually reproducing animals all gametes of either sex arise from primordial germ cells (PGC). PGC represent a small cell population, appearing early during embryo development. They represent a key cell population responsible for the survival and the evolution of a species. Indeed, the production of gametes will assure fertilisation and therefore the establishment of the next generation. Until recently only few laboratories were working on PGC biology. A new interest emerged since these cells have the ability to function as pluripotent stem cells when established as cell lines. Indeed, like embryonic stem cells (ESC), embryonic germ cells (EGC) are able to differentiate in a wide variety of tissues. In vivo, EGC are able, after injection into a host blastocyst cavity to colonise the inner cell mass and to participate in embryonic development. In vitro studies in human and mouse have also shown their capacity to differentiate into a large variety of cell types allowing the study of processes involved in cardiomyocyte, haematopoietic, neuronal and myogenic differentiation pathways. We present here the last updates of PGC ontogeny focusing mainly on the murine model.
Mots clés
Animals, Cell Differentiation, Cell Movement, Germ Cells, growth & development, Mice
Référence
Med Sci (Paris). 2004 Dec;20(12):1091-5
