The developmental fate of green fluorescent mouse embryonic germ cells in chimeric embryos

Primordial germ cells (PGCs), as precursors of mammalian germ lineage, have been gaining more attention as a new resource of pluripotent stem cells, which bring a great possibility to study developmental events of germ cell in vitro and at animal level. EG4 cells derived from 10.5 days post coitum (dpc) PGCs of 129/svJ strain mouse were established and maintained in an undifferentiated state. With an attempt to study the differentiation capability of EG4 cells with a reporter protein: green fluorescence protein, and the possible application of EG4 cells in the research of germ cell development, we have generated several EG4-GFP cell lines expressing enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) and still maintaining typical characteristics of pluripotent stem cells. Then, the differentiation of EG4-GFP cells in vitro as well as their developmental fate in chimeric embryos which were produced by aggregating EG4-GFP cells to 8-cell stage embryos were studied. The results showed that EG4 cells carrying green fluorescence have a potential use in the research of germ cell development and other related studies.