Germline stem cells: new insights into female infertility management

Evaluation of: White YA, Woods DC, Takai Y, Ishihara O, Seki H, Tilly JL. Oocyte formation by mitotically active germ cells purified from ovaries of reproductive-age women. Nat. Med. 18(3), 413–421 (2012).Ovarian aging was long considered to be irrevocable in the journey of a woman´s reproductive life. But with the identification of germline stem cells, differentiating into oocytes is a landmark innovation in the field of reproductive medicine. The existing clinical and biochemical information about the ovarian reserve has been very limited. As global infertility rates are increasing, research in recent years has focused on ingenious treatments, offering promising solutions to infertile couples with ovarian failure. The article under evaluation demonstrates for the first time that candidate oogonial stem cells can be reliably isolated from adult mice and human ovaries through a FACS-based approach. This was achieved by targeting the cytoplasmic germ cell proteins Ddx4 and DDX4 in mice and humans, respecti...