Steel factor controls primordial germ cell survival and motility from the time of their specification in the allantois, and provides a continuous niche throughout their migration

Steel factor is an essential survival and proliferation factor for primordial germ cells (PGCs) during their migration in the early mouse embryo. PGCs arise during gastrulation, and migrate into the posterior endoderm that becomes the hindgut. Previous reports have suggested that PGCs become dependent on Steel factor when they colonize the hindgut. However, in the absence of a good marker for living PGCs, their behavior before hindgut colonization has not been previously studied. We report here the normal behavior of PGCs in live embryos before hindgut colonization, and the roles of Steel factor, using a reporter line in which GFP is driven by the promoter of the Stella gene, whose activation accompanies the initial specification of PGCs. We show first that PGCs are surrounded by Steel factor-expressing cells from their first appearance in the allantois to the time they enter the genital ridges. Second, fewer PGCs are found in the allantois in Steel-null embryos, but this is not due to a failure of PGC specification. Third, the analysis of cultured Steel-null early embryos shows that Steel factor is required for normal PGC motility, both in the allantois and in the hindgut. Germ cells migrate actively in the allantois, and move directionally from the allantois into the proximal epiblast. In the absence of Steel factor, caused by either null mutation or antibody blockade, PGC motility is dramatically decreased, but directionality is maintained, demonstrating a primary role for Steel factor in PGC motility. This was found both before and after colonization of the hindgut. These data, together with previously published data, show that PGCs are Steel factor dependent from their initial specification until they colonize the genital ridges, and suggest the existence of a 'spatio-temporal niche' that travels with this important pluripotential cell population in the embryo.