Células germinativas primordiales femeninas: Origen y migración hacia los primordios gonadales

Female primordial germ cells (PGC), as in other mammals, appear early in the development, inside tissues that not only are far from the gonadal anlage, but also are of extra embryonic nature. Therefore, they make a translocation process that leads them to the gonad primordium, where they proliferate and interact with somatic cells in order to initiate the ovarian folliculogenesis. Do PGC possess a kind of "memory" that shows their target? What events determine the direction to which they should migrate from their place of origin? Which is the nature of these events? In this paper, we'll try to touch topics as the origin and the ultra-estructure of the PGC, its migratory behaviour characteristics and the influence that the extracellular matrix of the dorsal mesentery and the developing gonad have on that behaviour. With these subjects we'll try to answer the stated questions as deep as possible. © 2002 Corporación Editora Médica del Valle.