A critical function of Mad2l2 in primordial germ cell development of mice.

ABSTRACT: The development of primordial germ cells (PGCs) involves several waves of epigenetic reprogramming. A major step is following specification and involves the transition from the stably suppressive histone modification H3K9me2 to the more flexible, still repressive H3K27me3, while PGCs are arrested in G2 phase of their cycle. The significance and underlying molecular mechanism of this transition were so far unknown. Here, we generated mutant mice for the Mad2l2 (Mad2B, Rev7) gene product, and found that they are infertile in both males and females. We demonstrated that Mad2l2 is essential for PGC, but not somatic development. PGCs were specified normally in Mad2l2(-/-) embryos, but became eliminated by apoptosis during the subsequent phase of epigenetic reprogramming. A majority of knockout

SUBMITTER: Pirouz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3757036 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature