Nature 359, 550 - 551 (08 October 1992); doi:10.1038/359550a0

Long-term proliferation of mouse primordial germ cells in culture

James L. Resnick^*, Lynn S. Bixler^†, Linzhao Cheng^* & Peter J. Donovan^*†

^*Mammalian Genetics Laboratory, ABL-Basic Research Program, NCI-FCRDC, PO Box B, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, USA
^†PRI/Dyncorp, NCI-FCRDC, PO Box B, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201, USA
^‡To whom correspondence should be addressed

PRIMORDIAL germ cells (PGCs) are first identifiable as a population of about eight alkaline phosphatase-positive cells in the 7.0 days postcoitum mouse embryo¹. During the next 6 days of development they proliferate to give rise to the 25,000 cells that will establish the meiotic population². Steel factor is required for PGC survival both in vivo ³ and in vitro ^4,5 and together with leukaemia inhibitory factor stimulates PGC proliferation in vitro ⁶. In feeder-dependent culture, PGCs will proliferate for up to 7 days, but their numbers eventually decline and their proliferative capacity is only a fraction of that seen in vivo ^6,7. Here we report a further factor that stimulates PGC proliferation in vitro, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Furthermore, bFGF, in the presence of steel factor and leukaemia inhibitory factor, stimulates long-term proliferation of PGCs, leading to the derivation of large colonies of cells. These embryonic germ cells resemble embryonic stem cells, pluripotent cells derived from preimplantation embryos, or feeder-dependent embryonal carcinoma cells, pluripotent stem cells of PGC-derived tumours (teratomas and teratocarcinomas)⁸. To our knowledge, these results provide the first system for long-term culture of PGCs.

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