In vitro germ cell induction from fertile and infertile monozygotic twin research participants
Journal
Cell Reports Medicine
Journal Volume
3
Journal Issue
10
Start Page
100782
ISSN
2666-3791
Date Issued
2022-10
Author(s)
Pandolfi, Erica C.
Duhon, Mark
Zheng, Yi
Goldsmith, Sierra
Fu, Jianping
Silber, Sherman J.
Clark, Amander T.
Abstract
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) enable reproductive diseases to be studied when the reproductive health of the participant is known. In this study, monozygotic (MZ) monoamniotic (MA) twins discordant for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) consent to research to address the hypothesis that discordant POI is due to a shared primordial germ cell (PGC) progenitor pool. If this is the case, reprogramming the twin's skin cells to hiPSCs is expected to restore equivalent germ cell competency to the twins hiPSCs. Following reprogramming, the infertile MA twin's cells are capable of generating human PGC-like cells (hPGCLCs) and amniotic sac-like structures equivalent to her fertile twin sister. Using these hiPSCs together with genome sequencing, our data suggest that POI in the infertile twin is not due to a genetic barrier to amnion or germ cell formation and support the hypothesis that during gestation, amniotic PGCs are likely disproportionately allocated to the fertile twin with embryo splitting.
Subjects
amnion cells
discordant POI
embryo model
germ cells
hiPSCs
twins
Publisher
Cell Press
Description
Article number 100782
Type
journal article