TY - JOUR
T1 - Possibilities in Germ Cell Research
T2 - An Engineering Insight
AU - Esfandiari, Fereshteh
AU - Mashinchian, Omid
AU - Ashtiani, Mohammad Kazemi
AU - Ghanian, Mohammad Hossein
AU - Hayashi, Katsuhiko
AU - Saei, Amir Ata
AU - Mahmoudi, Morteza
AU - Baharvand, Hossein
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant provided from Royan Institute, Iranian Council of Stem Cell Research and Technology, the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/12
Y1 - 2015/12
N2 - Germ cells (GCs) are responsible for fertility and disruptions in their development or function cause infertility. However, current knowledge about the diverse mechanisms involved in GC development and function is still in its infancy. This is mainly because there are low numbers of GCs, especially during embryonic development. A deeper understanding of GCs would enhance our ability to produce them from stem cells. In addition, such information would enable the production of healthy gametes for infertile couples. In this regard, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) demonstrated a promising ability to produce GCs in vitro. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the field of tissue engineering that suggest novel strategies to enhance GC research. Advanced therapies for infertility require developing systems for the efficient production of germ cells from stem cells in the laboratory.We discuss recent advances and challenges of germ cell research.Here, we propose engineering approaches for designing an artificial niche for germ cell development in vitro.Novel platforms are demonstrated for the epigenetic analysis of germ cells.Innovative approaches are detailed for the efficient production of germ cells from pluripotent stem cells.
AB - Germ cells (GCs) are responsible for fertility and disruptions in their development or function cause infertility. However, current knowledge about the diverse mechanisms involved in GC development and function is still in its infancy. This is mainly because there are low numbers of GCs, especially during embryonic development. A deeper understanding of GCs would enhance our ability to produce them from stem cells. In addition, such information would enable the production of healthy gametes for infertile couples. In this regard, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) demonstrated a promising ability to produce GCs in vitro. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the field of tissue engineering that suggest novel strategies to enhance GC research. Advanced therapies for infertility require developing systems for the efficient production of germ cells from stem cells in the laboratory.We discuss recent advances and challenges of germ cell research.Here, we propose engineering approaches for designing an artificial niche for germ cell development in vitro.Novel platforms are demonstrated for the epigenetic analysis of germ cells.Innovative approaches are detailed for the efficient production of germ cells from pluripotent stem cells.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.09.004
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26497427
AN - SCOPUS:84947930861
SN - 0167-7799
VL - 33
SP - 735
EP - 746
JO - Trends in biotechnology
JF - Trends in biotechnology
IS - 12
ER -