Abstract

Fate determination of germline stem cells remains poorly understood at the chromatin structure level1,2. Here, we demonstrate successful production of offspring from oocytes transdifferentiated from mouse spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) with tracking of transplanted SSCs in vivo, single cell whole exome sequencing, and in 3D cell culture reconstitution of the process of oogenesis derived from SSCs. Furthermore, we demonstrate direct induction of germline stem cells (iGSCs) differentiated into functional oocytes by transduction of H19, Stella, and Zfp57 and inactivation of Plzf in SSCs after screening with ovarian organoids. Using high throughput chromosome conformation, we uncovered extensive chromatin reorganization during SSC conversion into iGSCs, which was highly similar to female germline stem cells. We observed that although topologically associating domains were stable during SSC conversion, chromatin interactions changed in a striking manner, altering 35% of inactive and active chromosomal compartments throughout the genome. These findings have important implications in various areas including mammalian gametogenesis, genetic and epigenetic reprogramming, biotechnology, and medicine.