| HRA000924
(Open Access)
|
Germline specification is a fundamental step for human reproduction and this biological phenomenon possesses technical challenges to study in vivo as it occurs immediately after blastocyst implantation. The establishment of in vitro human primordial germ cell-like cells (hPGCLCs) induction system allows sophisticated characterization of human primordial germ cells (hPGCs) development. Here, we observed particularly high expression of the histone demethylase KDM2B in male fetal germ cells (FGCs) but not in male somatic cells. Although deletion of KDM2B had no significant effects on human embryonic stem cell (hESC)'s pluripotency, loss of KDM2B dramatically impaired hPGCLCs differentiation whereas ectopically expressed KDM2B could efficiently rescue such defect, indicating this defect was due to KDM2B's loss in hPGCLC specification. These data collectively indicate that KDM2B is an indispensable epigenetic regulator for hPGCLC specification. |
