Eggan Kevin, Jurga Sara, Gosden Roger, Min Irene M, Wagers Amy J
The Stowers Medical Institute, Harvard Stem Cell Institute and The Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Nature. 2006 Jun 29;441(7097):1109-14. doi: 10.1038/nature04929. Epub 2006 Jun 14.
Decades of research in reproductive biology have led to the generally accepted belief that in female mammals, all surviving germ cells enter meiosis at the end of fetal development and as a result, the postnatal ovary harbours a limited supply of oocytes that cannot be replenished or regenerated if lost to injury or disease. However, recent reports have challenged this view, suggesting instead that oocyte production is maintained through continual seeding of the ovary by circulating, bone-marrow-derived germ cells. To test directly the physiological relevance of circulating cells for female fertility, we established transplantation and parabiotic mouse models to assess the capacity of circulating bone marrow cells to generate ovulated oocytes, both in the steady state and after induced damage. Our studies showed no evidence that bone marrow cells, or any other normally circulating cells, contribute to the formation of mature, ovulated oocytes. Instead, cells that travelled to the ovary through the bloodstream exhibited properties characteristic of committed blood leukocytes.
几十年来，生殖生物学领域的研究使人们普遍相信，在雌性哺乳动物中，所有存活的生殖细胞在胎儿发育末期进入减数分裂，因此，出生后的卵巢中卵母细胞供应有限，如果因损伤或疾病而丢失则无法补充或再生。然而，最近的报告对这一观点提出了挑战，相反，这些报告表明，卵母细胞的产生是通过循环的、源自骨髓的生殖细胞不断植入卵巢来维持的。为了直接测试循环细胞对雌性生育能力的生理相关性，我们建立了移植和联体小鼠模型，以评估循环骨髓细胞在稳态和诱导损伤后产生排卵卵母细胞的能力。我们的研究没有证据表明骨髓细胞或任何其他正常循环细胞有助于成熟排卵卵母细胞的形成。相反，通过血流进入卵巢的细胞表现出成熟血液白细胞的特征。
