TUESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Mouse ovaries contain germline stem cells that can divide and produce normal and fertile offspring, according to a study published online April 12 in Nature Cell Biology.
Kang Zou, and colleagues from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China, isolated female germline stem cells (FGSCs) from neonatal and adult mouse ovaries based on enzymatic digestion and surface marker expression.
The researchers were able to maintain the neonatal FGSCs for more than 15 months and the adult FGSCs for more than six months. After modification with a fluorescent marker, FGSCs transplanted into the ovaries of sterilized mice underwent oogenesis. The mice produced offspring carrying the fluorescent marker, according to the study, and the offspring were normal and fertile.
"These findings contribute to basic research into oogenesis and stem cell self-renewal and open up new possibilities for use of FGSCs in biotechnology and medicine," Zou and colleagues conclude.
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