Producing germ cells in vitro would open important new avenues for regenerative medicine, and obtaining alternative sources of pluripotent stem cells is desirable. In this regard, Geijsen et al. have shown that it is possible to differentiate stem cells into cells similar to male gametes, whereas Guan et al. reported the ability to turn undifferentiated germ cells into pluripotent stem cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Seydoux, G. & Braun, R.E. Cell 127, 891–904 (2006).
Hofmann, M.C., Hess, R.A., Goldberg, E. & Millan, J.L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 5533–5537 (1994).
Feng, L.X. et al. Science 297, 392–395 (2002).
Kierszenbaum, A.L., Abdullah, M., Ueda, H. & Tres, L.L. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 219, 535–560 (1987).
Toyooka, Y., Tsunekawa, N., Akasu, R. & Noce, T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 11457–11462 (2003).
Geijsen, N. et al. Nature 427, 148–154 (2004).
Guan, K. et al. Nature 440, 1199–1203 (2006).
Kanatsu-Shinohara, M. et al. Cell 119, 1001–1012 (2004).
Hubner, K. et al. Science 300, 1251–1256 (2003).
Novak, I. et al. Stem Cells 24, 1931–1936 (2006).
Nayernia, K. et al. Dev. Cell 11, 125–132 (2006).
Kanatsu-Shinohara, M. et al. Biol. Reprod. 78, 681–687 (2008).
Clark, A.T. et al. Hum. Mol. Genet. 13, 727–739 (2004).
Conrad, S. et al. Nature published online, doi: 10.1038/nature07404 (8 October 2008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Conti, M., Giudice, L. From stem cells to germ cells and back again. Nat Med 14, 1188–1190 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1108-1188
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1108-1188
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
Primordial germ cells can be differentiated by retinoic acid and progesterone induction from embryonic stem cells
Journal of Biosciences (2021)
-
Activation of the germ-cell potential of human bone marrow-derived cells by a chemical carcinogen
Scientific Reports (2014)