Single-cell analysis of Primordial Germ Cell-like cells (hPGCLC) (female and male) using 10X genomics

Current human primordial germ cell like cells (hPGCLCs) differentiation methods from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are inefficient, and it is challenging to generate sufficient hPGCLCs to optimize the next steps to achieve in vitro gametogenesis. We present a new differentiation method that uses diluted basement membrane extract (BME) and low BMP4 concentration to induce efficient hPGCLC differentiation, in scalable 2D cell culture. We show that BME overlay potentiates BMP/SMAD signaling, induced lumenogenesis and increases expression of key hPGCLC progenitor markers such as TFAP2A, EOMES, GATA3 and CDX2. These findings highlight the importance of factors in the BME in hPGCLC differentiation, and demonstrate the potential of the BME-overlay method as a new model for interrogating the formation of PGCs and amnion in humans. Overall design: Four hiPSC lines were used for differentiation to hPGCLC and were used for single cell cluster analysis.