Sign up for Table of Contents Alerts.
Email this page
Print this page
Perspectives
Blimp1 and the Emergence of the Germ Line during Development in the Mouse
Mitinori Saitou, Bernhard Payer, Dónal O’Carroll, Yasuhide Ohinata and M. Azim Surani
volume 4 | issue 12
december 2005Pages: 1736 - 1740
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.
To elucidate the mechanism for the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in mice, we have developed and exploited the methods of single cell analysis. Based on these studies, we proposed a molecular programme associated with this process, a key event of which is the repression of homeobox genes that are, without exception, up regulated in somatic neighbors. We have now identified Blimp1, a potent transcriptional repressor of a histone methyltransferase subfamily, as a key regulator of PGC specification. Indeed, the unexpected early onset of Blimp1 expression in a few cells at the most proximal-posterior epiblast cells marks the origin of the germ cell lineage. Disruption of Blimp1 function resulted in aberrant PGC-like cells with a deregulated intrinsic gene expression programme at a very early stage, which demonstrates that Blimp1 is a critical determinant of the germ line in mice.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.