Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. 1073/pnas.1104501108/-/DCSupplemental.
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| Format: | Article |
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National Academy of Sciences
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67356 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9920-3411 |
| _version_ | 1826213615375482880 |
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| author | Gill, Mark E. Hu, Yueh-Chiang Lin, Yanfeng Page, David C |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Gill, Mark E. Hu, Yueh-Chiang Lin, Yanfeng Page, David C |
| author_sort | Gill, Mark E. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.
1073/pnas.1104501108/-/DCSupplemental. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:52:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/67356 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:52:04Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/673562022-10-02T04:41:59Z Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells Gill, Mark E. Hu, Yueh-Chiang Lin, Yanfeng Page, David C Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Page, David C. Gill, Mark E. Hu, Yueh-Chiang Lin, Yanfeng Page, David C. This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. 1073/pnas.1104501108/-/DCSupplemental. Mammalian oocytes and spermatozoa derive from fetal cells shared by the sexes. These primordial germ cells (PGCs) migrate to the developing somatic gonad, giving rise to oocytes or spermatozoa. These opposing sexual fates are determined not by the PGCs’ own sex chromosome constitution (XX or XY), but by the sexual identity of the fetal gonad that they enter. We asked whether PGCs undergo a developmental transition that enables them to respond to feminizing or masculinizing cues from fetal ovary or testis. We conducted in vivo genetic studies of DAZL, an RNA-binding protein expressed in both ovarian and testicular germ cells. We found that germ cells in C57BL/6 Dazl-deficient fetuses—whether XX or XY—migrate to the gonad but do not develop either male or female features. Instead, they remain in a sexually undifferentiated state similar to that of migrating PGCs. Thus, germ cells in C57BL/6 Dazl-deficient fetuses do not respond to sexual cues from ovary or testis, whereas the earlier processes of germ cell specification and migration are unaffected. We propose that PGCs of both XX and XY fetuses undergo licensing, an active developmental transition that enables the resultant gametogenesis-competent cells to respond to feminizing or masculinizing cues produced by the fetal ovary or testis and hence to embark on oogenesis or spermatogenesis. In C57BL/6 mice, Dazl is required for licensing. Licensing serves as a gateway from the embryonic processes shared between the sexes—germ cell specification and migration—to the sex-specific pathways of oogenesis and spermatogenesis. Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2011-12-02T19:15:34Z 2011-12-02T19:15:34Z 2011-05 2011-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67356 Gill, M. E. et al. “Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 (2011): 7443-7448. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9920-3411 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1104501108 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Gill, Mark E. Hu, Yueh-Chiang Lin, Yanfeng Page, David C Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title | Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title_full | Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title_fullStr | Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title_short | Licensing of gametogenesis, dependent on RNA binding protein DAZL, as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| title_sort | licensing of gametogenesis dependent on rna binding protein dazl as a gateway to sexual differentiation of fetal germ cells |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67356 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9920-3411 |
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