PU.1 a pleiotropic regulator expressed in the first embryonic stages with a crucial function in germinal progenitors

In the adult mammalian testis, spermatogenic differentiation starts from a minute population of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). SSCs are generated after birth from the fetal gonocytes, themselves derived from the primordial germ cells (PGCs), which are specified during the first days after implantation. Transcriptome profiling of purified preparations evidenced the preferential accumulation in SSCs of transcripts of PU.1 (Sfpi1), a regulatory gene previously identified in hematopoietic progenitors. In situ immunolabeling and RNA determination showed a complex pattern of expression in the adult testis, first in SSCs and early spermatogonia followed by de novo expression in pachytene spermatocytes.

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Olive V, Wagner N, Chan S, Kastner P, Vannetti C, Cuzin F, Rassoulzadegan M