Int. J. Dev. Biol. 53: 891 - 894 (2009)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.082815mf

Vol 53, Issue 7

Primordial germ cell biology at the beginning of the XXI Century

Open Access | Essay | Published: 18 June 2009

Massimo De Felici*

Department of Public Health and Cell Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Abstract

At the XIV Workshop on the Development and Function of the Reproductive Organs held at the Congress Centre of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Monteporzio Catone, Rome, Italy, the introduction to the first session entitled “Mammalian primordial germ cells” dedicated to the memory of Anne McLaren, was the occasion for a concise review of the state of art of research on the biology of primordial germ cells (PGCs). This great, unforgettable scientist, who died in a car accident in July 2007, dedicated most of her studies to this field over the last 25 years. Topics briefly reviewed in this Meeting Report are: 1) how the germ line is determined; 2) what are the mechanisms underlying PGC migration; 3) to what extent PGC survival, proliferation and differentiation are cell autonomous or environmentally controlled processes and 4) how the potential for totipotency is retained in PGCs.

Keywords

primordial germ cell, epigenetics, cell migration, meiosis