# Sequential restriction of germ line progenitors by induction

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $305,195

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Sexual reproduction requires a germ line and mammals craft the beginning of their germ line early in
development by secreted signaling molecules. This mechanism in vivo remains obscure, largely from the
technical limitations of experimenting on embryos developing in utero. Germ line induction in a human embryo
is even more remote and errors in the process are associated with a lack of germ line (infertility) and mis-
placed specification of germ line cells (teratomas). How the primordial germ cells form by cell-cell interactions
during early development is the focus of this application and makes use of a sister group to chordates – the
sea star embryo.
 While not a common organism for biomedical research, the sea star model system has many experimental
and strategic attractions for revealing this process. Millions of synchronous embryos from a single male/female
cross allow biochemical and metabolic analysis of the germ line, the resultant embryos have ideal
transparency for in vivo longitudinal imaging, they develop rapidly, are easy to manipulate (single cell drop-
mRNA-seq, optogenetic controls) and they respond well to complementary gene perturbation approaches
(CRISPR, morpholino (MASO), and small molecule perturbations. The existing genomic and reagent resources
for the sea star, coupled with the tractable experimental characteristics of the sea star embryo, yields a unique
and surrogate system for understanding mammalian germ line induction.
 The approaches documented in this application will accomplish three main goals to advance the field in
transformative ways. 1) Three signaling pathways are prioritized for integrative stimulating and repressing
activities during a brief window in early development. 2) The mechanism of germ cell fate restriction is
interrogated by a restriction map - germ cell factors are retained in the future germ line, whereas somatic
factors are rapidly restricted from the same field. 3) Commitment to the germ line is hypothesized to include
rapid insulation from local embryonic signaling and instead transitions to a committed cell type with a unique
transcriptome, and response to signal activity. Single cell mRNA drop-sequencing and optogenetic control over
signaling at single cell resolution are used by taking full advantage of the optical clarity and accessibility of the
embryo.
 Overall, these accomplished goals will provide direct translation for understanding inductive germ line
formation in mammals, and will reveal mechanistic explanations for germ cell-less conditions leading to human
infertility, and mis-expression of germ cells leading to germ line tumors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9980947
- **Project number:** 5R01GM132222-02
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** GARY M WESSEL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $305,195
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-19 → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9980947

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9980947, Sequential restriction of germ line progenitors by induction (5R01GM132222-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9980947. Licensed CC0.

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