Gulimiheranmu Maisumu, Wang Xinjie, Zhou Junmei
Department of Central Laboratory, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1400 Beijing Road West, Shanghai 200040, China.
Stem Cells Int. 2021 Jan 13;2021:8849230. doi: 10.1155/2021/8849230. eCollection 2021.
Germ cells are capable of maintaining species continuity through passing genetic and epigenetic information across generations. Female germ cells mainly develop during the embryonic stage and pass through subsequent developmental stages including primordial germ cells, oogonia, and oocyte. However, due to the limitation of using early human embryos as research model, research models are needed to reveal the early developmental process and related mechanisms of female germ cells. After birth, the number of follicles gradually decreases with age. Various conditions which damage ovarian functions would cause premature ovarian failure. Alternative treatments to solve these problems need to be investigated. Germ cell differentiation from pluripotent stem cells can simulate early embryonic development of female germ cells and clarify unresolved issues during the development process. In addition, pluripotent stem cells could potentially provide promising applications for female fertility preservation after proper differentiation. Mouse female germ cells have been successfully reconstructed and delivered to live offspring. However, the derivation of functional human female germ cells has not been fully achieved due to technical limitations and ethical issues. To provide an updated and comprehensive information, this review centers on the major studies on the differentiation of mouse and human female germ cells from pluripotent stem cells and provides references to further studies of developmental mechanisms and potential therapeutic applications of female germ cells.
生殖细胞能够通过跨代传递遗传和表观遗传信息来维持物种的连续性。雌性生殖细胞主要在胚胎期发育，并经历包括原始生殖细胞、卵原细胞和卵母细胞在内的后续发育阶段。然而，由于使用早期人类胚胎作为研究模型存在局限性，因此需要研究模型来揭示雌性生殖细胞的早期发育过程及相关机制。出生后，卵泡数量会随着年龄的增长而逐渐减少。各种损害卵巢功能的情况都会导致卵巢早衰。需要研究解决这些问题的替代治疗方法。多能干细胞向生殖细胞的分化可以模拟雌性生殖细胞的早期胚胎发育，并阐明发育过程中尚未解决的问题。此外，经过适当分化后，多能干细胞可能为女性生育力保存提供有前景的应用。小鼠雌性生殖细胞已成功重建并产生了活的后代。然而，由于技术限制和伦理问题，功能性人类雌性生殖细胞的衍生尚未完全实现。为了提供最新和全面的信息，本综述聚焦于多能干细胞向小鼠和人类雌性生殖细胞分化的主要研究，并为雌性生殖细胞发育机制及潜在治疗应用的进一步研究提供参考。
