Improved efficiency of female germline stem cell purification using fragilis-based magnetic bead sorting

The enrichment of female germline stem cells (FGSCs) and the establishment of cell lines are influenced by the efficiency of cell purification. A previous study using mouse vasa homolog (MVH)-magnetic bead sorting for the isolation and purification of mouse FGSCs showed a relatively low efficiency. In this study, we tested 3 further proteins with the aim of improving the efficiency of FGSC purification. Immunofluorescence assays and magnetic sorting were performed using short-type pituitary gland and brain-cadherin (Stpb-c), CD9, and interferon-inducible transmembrane protein 3 (Iftm3, Fragilis), all of which are expressed in germ cells. Although all 3 proteins were expressed in FGSCs, CD9 was unsuitable because of its lack of germline specificity, and Stpb-c was also unsuitable because of the unavailability of an appropriate primary antibody. The efficiency of FGSC purification was remarkably enhanced using the germline-specific protein Fragilis, compared with that using MVH. This new method for the purification of FGSCs may have extensive applications in stem cell studies and clinical research.