| Literature DB >> 26046443 |
Fan Guo1, Liying Yan2, Hongshan Guo1, Lin Li1, Boqiang Hu1, Yangyu Zhao2, Jun Yong1, Yuqiong Hu3, Xiaoye Wang2, Yuan Wei2, Wei Wang2, Rong Li2, Jie Yan2, Xu Zhi2, Yan Zhang2, Hongyan Jin2, Wenxin Zhang2, Yu Hou1, Ping Zhu4, Jingyun Li4, Ling Zhang5, Sirui Liu5, Yixin Ren2, Xiaohui Zhu2, Lu Wen6, Yi Qin Gao5, Fuchou Tang7, Jie Qiao8.
Abstract
Germ cells are vital for transmitting genetic information from one generation to the next and for maintaining the continuation of species. Here, we analyze the transcriptome of human primordial germ cells (PGCs) from the migrating stage to the gonadal stage at single-cell and single-base resolutions. Human PGCs show unique transcription patterns involving the simultaneous expression of both pluripotency genes and germline-specific genes, with a subset of them displaying developmental-stage-specific features. Furthermore, we analyze the DNA methylome of human PGCs and find global demethylation of their genomes. Approximately 10 to 11 weeks after gestation, the PGCs are nearly devoid of any DNA methylation, with only 7.8% and 6.0% of the median methylation levels in male and female PGCs, respectively. Our work paves the way toward deciphering the complex epigenetic reprogramming of the germline with the aim of restoring totipotency in fertilized oocytes.Entities:
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Year: 2015 PMID： 26046443 DOI： 10.1016/j.cell.2015.05.015
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Cell ISSN： 0092-8674 Impact factor: 41.582