Historically, our understanding of molecular genetic aspects of human germ cell development has been limited, at least in part due to inaccessibility of early stages of human development to experimentation. However, the derivation of pluripotent stem cells may provide the necessary human genetic system to study germ cell development. In this study, we compared the potential of human induced plu...

We have examined the effect of retinoic acid (RA) on differentiation of bone marrow-derived CD15(+) , Oct4(+) and CXCR4(+) cells into male germ cells. Bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) were isolated from the femur of 3-4-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. Magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) system was used to sort CD15(+) , Oct4(+) and CXCR4(+) cells. RT-PCR was used to follow the expression of plurip...

BACKGROUND Signaling mechanisms involved in early human germ cell development are largely unknown and believed to be similar to mouse germ cell development; however, there may be species specific differences. KIT ligand (KITL) and Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) are necessary in mouse germ cell development and may play an important role in human germ cell development. METHODS KITL signali...

Spermatogonia are the male germ stem cells that continuously produce sperm for the next generation. Spermatogenesis is a complicated process that proceeds through mitotic phase of stem cell renewal and differentiation, meiotic phase, and postmeiotic phase of spermiogenesis. Full recapitulation of spermatogenesis in vitro has been impossible, as generation of normal spermatogonial stem cell line...

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability of proliferation, regeneration, conversion to differentiated cells and tissue production. Regeneration means that these cell shave the ability of asymmetric division, which one of the resulting cells remains as stem cell while another cell, which is called daughter cell, becomes one cell of germ layer. Stem cells may remain inactive fo...

Background The piwi family genes are highly conserved during evolution and play a crucial role in stem cell self-renewal, gametogenesis, and RNA interference in diverse organisms ranging from Arabidopsis to humans. Piwil2, also known as Hili, is one of the four human homologues of piwi. Piwil2 was found in germ cells of adult testis, suggesting that this gene functions in spermatogonial stem ce...

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability of proliferation, regeneration, conversion to differentiated cells and tissue production. Regeneration means that these cell shave the ability of asymmetric division, which one of the resulting cells remains as stem cell while another cell, which is called daughter cell, becomes one cell of germ layer. Stem cells may remain inactive fo...

Isolation and culture of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are attractive for production of genetic modified offspring. In the present study, buffalo spermatogonial stem-like cells were isolated, cultured and expression pattern of different germ cell marker genes were determined. To recover spermatogonia, testes from age 3 to 7 months of buffalo were decapsulated, and seminiferous tubules were e...

Spermatogonial stem cells provide the foundation for continued adult spermatogenesis and their manipulation can facilitate assisted reproductive technologies or the development of transgenic animals. Because the pig is an important agricultural and biomedical research animal, the development of practical application techniques to manipulate the pig Spermatogonial stem cell is needed. The abilit...

Germ cell tumors show many similarities to normal embryogenesis. This is, for example, illustrated by the expression of the marker of pluripotency, OCT3/4, known to play a pivotal role in the early stages of normal development. Interestingly, it is found to be the most informative diagnostic marker for the early developmental stages of malignant germ cell tumors. Expression regulation of OCT3/4...