Mechanism of mammalian germ cell development: toward assisted new reproductive technologies
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MINIREVIEW
Mechanism of mammalian germ cell development: toward assisted new reproductive technologies Atsushi Suzuki • Yasuyuki Kurihara Yumiko Saga
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Received: 8 October 2011 / Accepted: 22 November 2011 / Published online: 23 December 2011 Ó Japan Society for Reproductive Medicine 2011
Abstract Approximately 10% of Japanese couples who want to have children experience infertility, and the majority of these individuals have either abnormal egg cell or abnormal sperm development. In addition, currently, there is a low birth rate in many parts of the developed world; therefore, it is critical to elucidate the mechanisms of germ cell development. Thus, the study of assisted reproductive technologies has scientific significance, and is a key to solving infertility problems. This review summarizes the development of mouse germ cells, particularly focusing on the role of Nanos genes, which are essential for the development of mouse germ cells and have been identified as genes that are involved in human infertility. We also briefly introduce a study in which this information is applied to assisted reproductive technologies. Keywords ART Germ cells Infertility iPS Mouse
A. Suzuki (&) Interdisciplinary Research Center, Yokohama National University, 79-1 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan e-mail: [email protected] A. Suzuki Y. Kurihara Department of Environment and Natural Sciences, Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan Y. Saga Division of Mammalian Development, National Institute of Genetics, Yata 1111, Mishima 411-8540, Japan
Introduction All the cells in the body are generated from one fertilized egg. There are approximately 60 trillion of these cells, comprising hundreds of different types. Cells are roughly classified into either somatic or germ lines. The cells from the somatic line make up the organs and tissues of the body, while the germ line, including egg cells and sperm, is involved in the transfer of genetic information down the generations. In order to acquire and maintain their characteristics, the germ cells are controlled by genes that are specific to them, such as those involved in the processes of germ cell specification, sexual differentiation (oocyte or sperm), gametogenesis (meiosis), and reacquisition of pluripotency (Fig. 1). In animals, the mechanism underlying the development of germ cells is divided into two modes. The first is preformation, in which cells in organisms such as nematodes, flies, and frogs take up cytoplasmic components called germplasm into the fertilized ovum at the time of cell division, and subsequently develop into germ cells [1]. The other mode is epigenesis, in which cells are isolated from the somatic line by signals from the surrounding tissues and turn into germ cells [2]. This occurs in mammals such as humans and mice [3]. Mouse germ cells are generated in an extraembryonic tissue during early development and migrate to the fut
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