Ectopic germ cells: natural model for the study of germ cell sexual differentiation.
AUTOR(ES)
Upadhyay, S
RESUMO
In the course of a study on the morphogenesis of the adrenal gland in random-bred Swiss albino mice, we noted the presence of ectopic germ cells in the adrenal cortexes and medullas in animals of both sexes, from day 12 1/2 of fetal development to postnatal day 12. Up to day 15 of fetal development, the cells exhibited characteristics of primordial germ cells. At day 17, and irrespective of the sex of the fetus, they all entered meiosis in synchrony with those in the ovary. Postnatally, in females as well as males, all ectopic germ cells displayed morphologic characteristics identical to those of young oocytes in unilaminar ovarian follicles. No germinal elements were seen in the adrenal glands past day 12 of life. Our study shows that mammalian germ cells are capable of undergoing sustained differentiation outside the gonads and that, in ectopic sites, they all differentiate into oocytes as they normally would in the ovary, even in males.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=347172Documentos Relacionados
- Development without germ cells: The role of the germ line in zebrafish sex differentiation
- Indirect induction of erythroid differentiation in mouse Friend cells: evidence for two intracellular reactions involved in the differentiation.
- HT-29 cells are an in vitro model for the generation of cell polarity in epithelia during embryonic differentiation.
- Two types of immunoglobulin-negative Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed cells: implications for B-lymphocyte differentiation.
- Chlamydomonas mutants affected in the light-dependent step of sexual differentiation.
