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Originally published in Science Express on 1 May 2003
Science 23 May 2003:
Vol. 300. no. 5623, pp. 1251 - 1256
DOI: 10.1126/science.1083452
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Research Articles

Derivation of Oocytes from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Karin Hübner,1 Guy Fuhrmann,3 Lane K. Christenson,4 James Kehler,1 Rolland Reinbold,1 Rabindranath De La Fuente,2 Jennifer Wood,4 Jerome F. Strauss, III,4 Michele Boiani,1 Hans R. Schöler1*

Continuation of mammalian species requires the formation and development of the sexually dimorphic germ cells. Cultured embryonic stem cells are generally considered pluripotent rather than totipotent because of the failure to detect germline cells under differentiating conditions. Here we show that mouse embryonic stem cells in culture can develop into oogonia that enter meiosis, recruit adjacent cells to form follicle-like structures, and later develop into blastocysts. Oogenesis in culture should contribute to various areas, including nuclear transfer and manipulation of the germ line, and advance studies on fertility treatment and germ and somatic cell interaction and differentiation.

1 Germline Development Group, Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, New Bolton Center, 382 West Street Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
2 Female Germ Cell Biology Group, Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell Research, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, New Bolton Center, 382 West Street Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
3 Centre de Neurochimie, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie du Développement et de la Régénération, FRE 2373 CNRS, 5 Rue Blaise Pascal, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
4 Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 1349 Biomedical Research Building 2/3, 421 Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Scholer{at}vet.upenn.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)