Female Germline Stem Cells

Dear Colleagues,

For almost a century, there has been a debate surrounding the ability of adult female mammals to undergo post-natal germ cell renewal. In 2004, a study proposing germ cell renewal in adult female mice was published, and, since then, the isolation of mitotically active cells expressing germline markers has been reported from the ovaries of adult rodents, cows, sheep, primates, and humans. The development of these oogonial stem cells (OSCs) in vitro and the generation of live young from fully differentiated rodent OSCs has also been described.

Whilst there remains controversy over the biological significance of these cells, it must be acknowledged that the identification and isolation of populations of cells with germline potential within the adult mammalian ovary in general, and the human ovary in particular, represents a significant advance with the potential to change infertility treatments.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the developments in this field from expert laboratories to highlight the methodology used to isolate and characterise these cells and to place these cells in the context of our understanding of mammalian ovarian development.

Prof. Evelyn Telfer
Dr. Dori Woods
Guest Editors

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