Surani and colleagues use single-cell transcriptomics analysis in a model of mouse primordial germ cell specification to analyse the collaboration between three transcription factors, BLIMP1, PRDM14 and AP2γ, in determining germ cell fate. They find that BLIMP1 binds directly to repress somatic and cell proliferation genes, and at the same time induces AP2γ, which acts together with PRDM14. The three factors are sufficient for specification and form a tripartite interdependent transcriptional network.
- Erna Magnúsdóttir
- Sabine Dietmann
- M. Azim Surani
