Sperm and Embryonic Stem Cells

摘要

In mammals, it is well known that germ cell lineage is determined just after the onset of gastrulation. Therefore, embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are derived from inner cell mass of blastocyst, maintain the pluripotency to become germ cells as well as all somatic cell lineages. Several studies revealed that germ cells were emerged from ES cells in a cell-autonomous manner. In particular, recent studies using in vitro differentiation of ES cells showed that ES-derived germ cells could differentiate into cells of post-mei-otic stage in a long-term culture, which indicates a possibility that game-togenesis from ES cells in culture should shed a light on a field of reproductive engineering. It is also possible that better understanding of molecular basis constituting the germ cell-specificity will teach us the way to reconstitute the pluripotency, leading a novel strategy for future regenerative medicine.