022. Isolation of stem cells from embryos and adult bovine tissues
P. J. Verma A B , K. Upton A B , H. Mc Connell A B and I. Vassiliev A BA Centre for Reproduction and Development, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, VIC, Australia
B CRC-for Innovative Dairy Products, Australia
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 17(9) 67-67 https://doi.org/10.1071/SRB05Abs022
Submitted: 26 July 2005 Accepted: 26 July 2005 Published: 5 September 2005
Abstract
The isolation of stem cells has become an area of increasing interest due to their potential uses in animal reproduction, somatic cell nuclear transfer and cell therapies. The most attractive options are the isolation of stem cells from individual embryos or adult somatic tissues. In addition, for cell therapy, the use of autologous stem cells is considered to have an advantage over heterologous cell based therapies in that immune rejection issues would be circumvented. Here we report on our attempts to isolate stem cells from both these sources in a bovine model.
Bovine ES-like (bES) cells were successfully isolated from embryos and maintained in vitro for up to six passages. These cells retained the morphology characteristic of bES cells: small cytoplasmic/nuclear ratio, nuclei with multiple nucleoli, and multiple lipid inclusions in cytoplasm. bES cell colonies grew as monolayers, as islands of ES cells surrounded by trophectoderm (TE) cells. Immunohistochemical detection of SSEA-1 and SSEA-4 demonstrated expression of these markers in bES cells but not in TE cells. Further, the expression of the pluripotent markers Oct-4, Rex-1 and SSEA-1 by RT-PCR was also detected in bES cells but not in TE cells. On spontaneous differentiation, these cells were able to form a variety of cell types including beating muscle with the cells displaying a propensity to differentiate in a manner reminiscent of human ES cells. (2) We also report the isolation of putative stem cells from adult bovine skin biopsies, which express the stem cell markers Oct-4 and SSEA-1 analysed by RT-PCR and are capable of forming 3-dimensional colonies. These cells are obtained from a skin biopsy, a relatively non-invasive technique that makes them useful as donors for therapeutic applications.
In summary, we have identified populations of stem cells from embryonic and adult bovine tissues, which are readily isolated. Further characterization of the differentiation potential of these cells is needed to identify the suitability of this population for use in autologous stem cell therapies.
