Reproductive Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Reproductive Medicine Center, The First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jul 28;14:1124143. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1124143. eCollection 2023.
SOX17 has been identified as a critical factor in specification of human primordial germ cells, but whether SOX17 regulates development of germ cells after sex differentiation is poorly understood.
We collected specimens of gonadal ridge from an embryo (n=1), and ovaries of foetuses (n=23) and adults (n=3). Germ cells were labelled with SOX17, VASA (classic germ cells marker), phosphohistone H3 (PHH3, mitosis marker) and synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SCP3, meiosis marker).
SOX17 was detected in both cytoplasm and nucleus of oogonia and oocytes of primordial and primary follicles from 15 to 28 gestational weeks (GW). However, it was exclusively expressed in cytoplasm of oogonia at 7 GW, and in nucleus of oocytes in secondary follicles. Co-expression rates of SOX17 in VASA germ cells ranged from 81.29% to 97.81% in foetuses. Co-staining rates of SOX17 and PHH3 or SCP3 were 0%-34% and 0%-57%, respectively. Interestingly, we distinguished a subpopulation of SOX17VASA germ cells in fetal ovaries. These cells clustered in the cortex and could be co-stained with the mitosis marker PHH3 but not the meiosis marker SCP3.
The dynamic expression of SOX17 was detected in human female germ cells. We discovered a population of SOX17 VASA germ cells clustering at the cortex of ovaries. We could not find a relationship between mitosis or meiosis and SOX17 or VASA staining in germ cells. Our findings provide insight into the potential role of SOX17 involving germ cells maturation after specification, although the mechanism is unclear and needs further investigation.
SOX17 已被确定为人类原始生殖细胞特化的关键因子，但 SOX17 是否调节性别分化后生殖细胞的发育尚不清楚。
我们收集了胚胎（n=1）、胎儿（n=23）和成人（n=3）的生殖嵴标本。使用 SOX17、VASA（经典生殖细胞标志物）、磷酸组蛋白 H3（PHH3，有丝分裂标志物）和联会复合体蛋白 3（SCP3，减数分裂标志物）对生殖细胞进行标记。
SOX17 在 15 至 28 孕周（GW）的原始和初级卵泡的卵原细胞和卵母细胞的细胞质和核中均有检测到。然而，它在 7 GW 时仅表达于卵原细胞的细胞质中，在次级卵泡的卵母细胞中表达于核中。SOX17 在胎儿生殖细胞中的共表达率为 81.29%至 97.81%。SOX17 与 PHH3 或 SCP3 的共染色率分别为 0%-34%和 0%-57%。有趣的是，我们在胎儿卵巢中区分出了 SOX17VASA 生殖细胞的亚群。这些细胞在皮质聚集，可与有丝分裂标志物 PHH3 共染色，但与减数分裂标志物 SCP3 不共染色。
在人类女性生殖细胞中检测到 SOX17 的动态表达。我们发现了一群 SOX17VASA 生殖细胞聚集在卵巢皮质。我们在生殖细胞中没有发现 SOX17 或 VASA 染色与有丝分裂或减数分裂之间的关系。我们的发现为 SOX17 参与特化后生殖细胞成熟的潜在作用提供了线索，尽管其机制尚不清楚，需要进一步研究。
