Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V8

The role of Rhox genes in mouse primordial germ cell specification

Höfundar / Authors: Daisy Awiti (1), Erna Magnúsdóttir (1,2)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: The University of Iceland, Department of Biomedical Science and Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine

Kynnir / Presenter: Daisy Awiti

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are germ line precursors that give rise to gametes after differentiation. Mouse PGCs are formed on embryonic days 6-8 and are located in the proximal region of the postimplantation epiblast. The induction of PGC fate and their specification into eggs or sperm require special signalling factors.
Previous research shows that a tripartite transcription factor network consisting of Blimp1, Prdm14 and AP2γ can induce mouse PGC fate in vitro. Downstream of this network, a cluster of reproductive homeobox X-linked (Rhox) genes encoding transcriptional regulators are expressed.
We seek to elucidate the role of Rhox5, Rhox6 and Rhox9 genes in pluripotent state transitions and PGC specification in vitro. We will generate knock-outs of these Rhox genes in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and characterise the mutant phenotypes upon the induction of epiblast-like cells (EpiLCs) and PGC-like cells (PGCLCs). We will analyse the global gene expression of the knock-out cells and preform gene rescue experiments to confirm the mutant phenotypes and check for redundant genes.
We also aim to clarify the molecular mode of action of the three Rhox paralogs. The group has generated Rhox-EGFP fusion proteins for use in chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments to determine the genomic locations of protein binding in ESCs and PGCLCs.
Our findings will improve the understanding of germ cell biology and expand our knowledge on reproductive biology, particularly fertility.