Journal article
Male fetal germ cell differentiation involves complex repression of the regulatory network controlling pluripotency
PS Western, JA Van Den Bergen, DC Miles, AH Sinclair
FASEB Journal | FEDERATION AMER SOC EXP BIOL | Published : 2010
DOI: 10.1096/fj.09-151555
Abstract
Mammalian germ cells are derived from the pluripotent epiblast and share features with pluripotent stem cells, including the expression of key genes that regulate developmental potency. The core genes Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog that regulate pluripotency in stem cells also perform important roles in regulating germ cell development and potentially in occurrence of germ line tumors in humans. Despite this, our understanding of the regulation of these genes during germ cell development remains limited. In this study we examine the regulation of pluripotency in the mouse fetal germ line. We show that male-specific methylation occurs in key functional elements of the Nanog and Sox2 promoters, and the..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank Prof. George Enders (University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA) for the GCNA antibody, Dr. Nick Wong for advice on bisulfite sequencing, Dr. Matt Burton for FACS sorting, and Christine Hall and the MCRI animal staff for animal care. The authors also thank Dr. Stefan White for critical comments on the manuscript. This project was supported through the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology and Development. Authors' contributions were as follows: P.S.W.: conception and design, collection and assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript preparation, final approval of manuscript. J.A.V.: conception and design, collection and assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript preparation, final approval of manuscript. D.C.M.: conception and design, collection and assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation, final approval of manuscript. A.H.S.: conception and design, financial support, final approval of manuscript.