In vitro germ cell induction from fertile and infertile monozygotic twin research participants

Erica C. Pandolfi, Fei Man Hsu, Mark Duhon, Yi Zheng, Sierra Goldsmith, Jianping Fu, Sherman J. Silber, Amander T. Clark

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number100782
JournalCell Reports Medicine
Volume3
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 18 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • amnion cells
  • discordant POI
  • embryo model
  • germ cells
  • hiPSCs
  • twins

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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