ActivinA-derived human embryonic stem cells show increased competence to differentiate into primordial germ cell-like cells

Robust differentiation of hPGCLCs starting from hESCs is currently hampered by the inherent heterogenous nature of different hESC lines. Here, we show that hESC lines, that were both derived and cultured in the presence of ActA, show high competence to differentiate to PGCLCs, in particular if transiently converted to the 4i-state prior to differentiation. We performed a robust and systematic comparison of isogenic lines and provide an optimized protocol to obtain PGCLCs from hESCs. Overall design: mRNA profiles of traditional and Activin A derived hESC in primed and 4i pluripotent states, Primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs) derived from Activin derived hESC, somatic fraction from differentiation of hESCs to PGCLCs