日本九州大学Katsuhiko Hayashi研究组利用小鼠多能干细胞产生卵泡。相关论文于2021年7月16日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《科学》杂志上。

在这项研究中，他们开发了培养条件来重现从多能细胞到胎儿卵巢体细胞样细胞 (FOSLC) 的逐步分化过程。当 FOSLCs 与来自小鼠胚胎干细胞的原始生殖细胞样细胞 (PGCLC) 聚集时，PGCLCs 进入减数分裂以产生能够受精和发育成活后代的功能性卵母细胞。在重建的卵巢环境中生成功能性小鼠卵母细胞提供了一种体外卵母细胞生成和卵泡生成的方法，以便更好地了解哺乳动物的繁殖。

据悉，卵母细胞在一个特化的充满液体的囊中成熟，即卵泡，它提供减数分裂和生殖细胞生长所需的信号。当与胚胎卵巢体细胞一起培养时，已经开发出从多能干细胞来源的PGCLC产生功能性卵母细胞的方法。

附：英文原文

Title: Generation of ovarian follicles from mouse pluripotent stem cells

Author: Takashi Yoshino, Takahiro Suzuki, Go Nagamatsu, Haruka Yabukami, Mika Ikegaya, Mami Kishima, Haruka Kita, Takuya Imamura, Kinichi Nakashima, Ryuichi Nishinakamura, Makoto Tachibana, Miki Inoue, Yuichi Shima, Ken-ichirou Morohashi, Katsuhiko Hayashi

Issue&Volume: 2021/07/16

Abstract: Oocytes mature in a specialized fluid-filled sac, the ovarian follicle, which provides signals needed for meiosis and germ cell growth. Methods have been developed to generate functional oocytes from pluripotent stem cell–derived primordial germ cell–like cells (PGCLCs) when placed in culture with embryonic ovarian somatic cells. In this study, we developed culture conditions to recreate the stepwise differentiation process from pluripotent cells to fetal ovarian somatic cell–like cells (FOSLCs). When FOSLCs were aggregated with PGCLCs derived from mouse embryonic stem cells, the PGCLCs entered meiosis to generate functional oocytes capable of fertilization and development to live offspring. Generating functional mouse oocytes in a reconstituted ovarian environment provides a method for in vitro oocyte production and follicle generation for a better understanding of mammalian reproduction.

DOI: 10.1126/science.abe0237

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6552/eabe0237