| First Author | Zayed AE | Year | 2007 |
| Journal | Andrologia | Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 93-100 |
| PubMed ID | 17683469 | Mgi Jnum | J:127021 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3762683 | Doi | 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2007.00771.x |
| Citation | Zayed AE, et al. (2007) Prenatal development of murine gonads with special reference to germ cell differentiation: a morphological and immunohistochemical study. Andrologia 39(3):93-100 |
| abstractText | The prenatal differentiation of male and female gonads of the mouse was investigated both morphologically and immunohistochemically. Sexual dimorphism could be detected as early as 12 days post-coitum (dpc) by the appearance of the primary elements of the tunica albuginea and positive immunoreactivity for anti-Muellerian hormone in the Sertoli cells of the male gonad. Male germ cells passed two waves of mitotic activity, a first wave between 12 and 14 dpc, which is followed by apoptosis of the old germ cell generation, and a second wave between 17 and 20 dpc. Oct-4 was expressed as a juxtanuclear ring in the cytoplasm of germ cells up to 17 dpc. Subsequently, it was down-regulated and completely disappeared in 20 dpc full-term fetuses. By contrast, M2A antigen revealed only a weak immunoreaction in some germ cells of 14 dpc gonads, but exhibited strong signals in all germ cells of 20 dpc full-term fetuses. Therefore, we postulate that, in the mouse, prenatal germ cells represent two populations: the first is immunopositive for Oct-4 and disappeared in full-term fetuses, whereas the second appeared in 14 dpc and is immunopositive for M2A antigen. |
