Project description:In poultry, in vitro derived primordial germ cells (PGCs) represent an important tool for management of genetic resources. However, several studies have highlighted sexual differences exhibited by PGCs through in vitro steps, which may compromise their reproductive capacities. To understand this phenomenon, we compared the proteome of pregonadal chicken male (ZZ) and female (ZW) PGCs expanded in vitro by quantitative proteomic analysis using a GeLC-MS/MS strategy. The proteins found to be differentially abundant in chicken male and female PGCs indicated their early sexual identity. Many of the proteins up-accumulated in male PGCs were encoded by genes strongly enriched in the sexual chromosome Z. This suggests that the known lack of dosage compensation of the transcription of Z-linked genes between sexes persists at protein level in PGCs, and that this may be a key factor of their autonomous sex differentiation. Male and female PGCs up-accumulated protein sets were associated with differential biological processes, and contained proteins biologically relevant for male and female germ cell development respectively. This study presents first evidence on early predetermined sex specific cell fate of chicken PGCs that will help to understand their sexual physiological specificities and enable more precise sex-specific adaptation of in vitro culture conditions.
Project description:Chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) have an epigenetic signature which differs from the one that mammalian PGCs acquire with their epigenome reprogramming during early embryonic development. In particular, chicken PGCs display a high global amount of histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) compared to somatic cell types. We performed the genome-wide profiling of H3K9me3 and the transcriptome analysis on chicken PGCs compared to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a closely related, non germinal cell type.
Project description:Chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) have an epigenetic signature which differs from the one that mammalian PGCs acquire with their epigenome reprogramming during early embryonic development. In particular, chicken PGCs display a high global amount of histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) compared to somatic cell types. We performed the genome-wide profiling of H3K9me3 and the transcriptome analysis on chicken PGCs compared to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a closely related, non germinal cell type.
Project description:The present investigation was to identify the signaling and metabolic pathways of expressed genes by microarray comparison between Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) and their somatic counterpart, chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs). We identified a total of 2,605 expressed transcripts. Among these, 1,197 were predominantly expressed in PGCs, and 1,408 were predominantly expressed in CEFs. Cell culture and microarray data generation were performed in triplicate. Blood PGCs from E2.5 embryos (N=20 for each replication) and CEFs from E6.5 embryos (N=5 for each replication) were cultured in appropriate culture medium. Total RNA was extracted from cultured PGCs (1,500,000 cells for each replication) and cultured CEFs (6,000,000 cells for each replication) with a Qiagen RNeasy kit. About 5 M-BM-5g of total RNA from each replication was used for labeling. Probe synthesis from total RNA samples, hybridization, detection, and scanning were performed according to standard protocols from Affymetrix.
Project description:Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are lineage restricted precursor cells of sperm and eggs. While avian PGCs from chicken can be cultured and modified to produce genome-edited chickens, the long-term culture of PGCs from other bird species has not been achieved. Here, we explored the effects of a cell-matrix interaction on the in vitro propagation of chicken PGCs. Blocking integrin signaling severely reduced the self-renewal of the PGC, indicating that a PGC-matrix interaction is an essential process for self-renewal. We investigated the properties of somatic cell differentiated PGCs and expression analyses suggested that the PGCs undergo a partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition caused by excess PGC-matrix interactions. Finally, we conducted a long-term culture of chicken PGCs with matrix components, resulting in significant induction of their somatic conversion. These results suggested that a high level of PGC-matrix interaction can cause somatic conversion, while a moderate level is essential for their proliferation. Overall, we identified a molecular aspect of self-renewal and maintaining undifferentiated states of avian PGCs.
Project description:To investigate the function of Lin28A and B in primordial germ cell (PGC) , we generated chicken PGCs in which Lin28A or B has been knocked out by CRISPR/Cas9. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of 3 different cell types.
Project description:The present investigation was to identify the signaling and metabolic pathways of expressed genes by microarray comparison between Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) and their somatic counterpart, chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs). We identified a total of 2,605 expressed transcripts. Among these, 1,197 were predominantly expressed in PGCs, and 1,408 were predominantly expressed in CEFs.
Project description:Transcriptomes of mouse E12.5 primordial germ cells (PGCs), primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs) isolated from 6-day culture embryoid bodies, and the precursor pluripotent stem cells [embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)] and epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs) Total RNA was isolated from FACS-enriched, SSEA1+/CD61+ double-positive PGCs and PGCLCs. RNA was also isolated from ESC, iPSC, and EpiLC cultured without enrichment. Transcriptomes were determined using Affymetrix microarray.
