Derivation of oocyte-like cells from a clonal pancreatic stem cell line

Abstract

Adult pancreatic stem cells (PSCs) are able to differentiate spontaneously in vitro into various somatic cell types. Stem cells isolated from rat pancreas show extensive self-renewal ability and grow in highly viable long-term cultures. Additionally, these cells express typical stem cell markers such as Oct-4, nestin and SSEA-1. Although differentiation potential is slightly decreasing in long-term cultures, it is possible to keep cell lines up to passage 140. Clonal cell lines could be established from different passages and showed similar characteristics. Remarkably, one clonal cell line, generated from passage 75, showed deviant properties during further culture. Clonal cells formed aggregates, which built tissue-like structures in suspension culture. These generated 3D aggregates produced permanently new cells at the outside margin. Released cells had remarkable size, and closer examination by light microscopy analysis revealed oocyte-like morphology. A comparison of the gene expression patterns between primary cultures of passages 8 and 75, the clonal cell line and the produced oocyte-like cells (OLCs) from tissue-like structures demonstrated some differences. Expression of various germ cell markers, such as Vasa, growth differentiation marker 9 and SSEA-1, increased in the clonal cell line, and OLCs showed additionally expression of meiosis-specific markers SCP3 and DMC1. We here present a first pilot study investigating the putative germ line potential of adult PSCs.

Bone marrow‐derived very small embryonic‐like stem cells: Their developmental origin and biological significance

“…A population of stem cells that express markers of ESC/epiblast/PGC cells was recently described in several nonhematopoietic organs, for example, in epidermis (Dyce et al, 2004(Dyce et al, , 2006Yu et al, 2006), bronchial epithelium (Ling et al, 2006), myocardium, pancreas, (Kruse et al, 2006;Danner et al, 2007), testis (Kanatsu-Shinohara et al, 2004;Guan et al, 2006), retina (Koso et al, 2006), and amniotic fluid (De Coppi et al, 2007). This finding supports a concept of developmental deposition of Oct-4 ϩ EPSC in developing organs.…”

Deleted in Azoospermia-Like Enhances In Vitro Derived Porcine Germ Cell Formation and Meiosis

“…Our study, in combination with data obtained in mouse, clearly demonstrates that DAZL plays a central role in germ cell development and the progression from mitosis to meiosis. Substantial studies have reported the generation of germ cell-like cells from somatic tissue-derived stem cells such as skin [3][4][5]16,[36][37][38], bone marrow [39][40][41][42], and pancreas [43]. It has been demonstrated that epigenetic imprints are established during gametogenesis [44][45][46], and that the DNA methylation status of imprinted genes is erased and reset during PGC development [47,48].…”

The crucial role of Activin A on the formation of primordial germ cell-like cells from skin-derived stem cells in vitro

“…In recent years, great efforts have been made to induce germ cell formation from stem cells in vitro, which will further our understanding of the process of germ cell development. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and adult stem cells, such as skinderived stem cells (SDSCs) and pancreatic stem cells, were used for germ cell induction in vitro from mice, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] pig, 17 and humans. [18][19][20] SDSCs were shown to be capable of differentiating into different cell types including adipocytes and insulin producing cells in vitro.…”