Fig. 5. Extra-gonadal PGCs in Pten mutant mice. (A) Route of PGC migration. Transverse section of E12.5 embryos stained for alkaline phosphatase activity. Alkaline phosphatase-positive cells were stained red. The normal migration pathway is indicated by arrows. PGCs become incorporated into the wall of the developing hindgut (gut; E8.5), migrate actively into the dorsal mesentery (dm; E9.5) and then to the genital ridges (E10.5-12.5). The path of `out of route' PGCs is shown by a broken arrow. dm, dorsal mesentery; cw, coelomic wall; gnd, gonad; mes, mesonephros. (B) The percentage and the number of extra-gonadal PGCs at E12.5. The serial transverse sections of whole embryos were stained with alkaline phosphatase substrate as described in A. The number of PGCs in three sections was counted in every case. Ectopic PGCs were also stained with 4C9 antibody for confirmation. The results were analyzed by Student's t-test (*P<0.0025, P<0.01). (C) The distribution of PGCs at E12.5. The values for individual mice are plotted (Student's t-test; *P<0.05, P<0.01, and P<0.005).

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