Skip Navigation


Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on August 1, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction 2008 14(9):501-511; doi:10.1093/molehr/gan042
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
14/9/501    most recent
gan042v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Childs, A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Anderson, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Childs, A. J.
Right arrow Articles by Anderson, R. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Modelling germ cell development in vitro

Andrew J. Childs1,3, Philippa T.K. Saunders1 and Richard A. Anderson2

1MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Centre for Reproductive Biology, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK 2Division of Reproductive and Developmental Sciences, Centre for Reproductive Biology, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

3 Correspondence address. E-mail: a.childs{at}hrsu.mrc.ac.uk

Germ cells have a critical role in mediating the generation of genetic diversity and transmitting this information across generations. Furthermore, gametogenesis is unique as a developmental process in that it generates highly-specialized haploid gametes from diploid precursor stem cells through meiosis. Despite the importance of this process, progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underpinning mammalian germ cell development has been retarded by the lack of an efficient and reproducible system of in vitro culture for the expansion and trans-meiotic differentiation of germline cells. The dearth of such a culture system has rendered the study of germ cell biology refractory to the application of new high-throughput technologies such as RNA interference, leaving in vivo gene-targeting approaches as the only option to determine the function of genes believed to be involved in gametogenesis. Recent reports detailing the derivation of gametes in vitro from stem cells may provide the first steps in developing new tools to solve this problem. This review considers the developments made in modelling germ cell development using stem cells, and some of the challenges that need to be overcome to make this a useful tool for studying gametogenesis and to realize any future clinical application.

Key words: germ cell/stem cell/spermatogenesis/oogenesis/infertility

Submitted on May 27, 2008; resubmitted on July 11, 2008; accepted on July 14, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Hum ReprodHome page
A. Kocer, J. Reichmann, D. Best, and I. R. Adams
Germ cell sex determination in mammals
Mol. Hum. Reprod., April 1, 2009; 15(4): 205 - 213.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.