Somatic Cells, Stem Cells, and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: How Do They Now Contribute to Conservation?

Abstract

More than a decade has now passed since the birth of the first endangered species produced from an adult somatic cell reprogrammed by somatic cell nuclear transfer. At that time, advances made in domestic and laboratory animal species provided the necessary foundation for attempting cutting-edge technologies on threatened and endangered species. In addition to nuclear transfer, spermatogonial stem cell transplantation and induction of pluripotent stem cells have also been explored. Although many basic scientific questions have been answered and more than 30 wild species have been investigated, very few successes have been reported. The majority of studies document numerous obstacles that still need to be overcome to produce viable gametes or embryos for healthy offspring production. This chapter provides an overview of somatic cell and stem cell technologies in different taxa (mammals, fishes, birds, reptiles and amphibians) and evaluates the potential and impact of these approaches for animal species conservation.

Establishment and cryopreservation of a cell line derived from caudal fin of endangered catfish Clarias dussumieri Valenciennes, 1840

“…ClDuF cells are also able to play a role in various biological studies, such as toxicology, drug discovery, functional genomics and isolation of viruses (Lakra et al ., ). In general, cells showing normal characters in terms of their viability, growth and integrity of genome will enhance the cloning success rate (Mastromonaco et al ., ). In our study, analysis of ClDuF cells showed that the PDT was approximately 22 h before freezing and 28 h after thawing.…”

Derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells from orangutan skin fibroblasts

“…In terms of immediate relevance, orangutan iPSCs can be used to evaluate protocols for deriving germ cells from iPSCs [ 42 – 46 ]. Even if functional male and female gametes could be derived from genetically unaltered iPSCs in the future, numerous challenges for their applications in assisted reproductive technologies will remain [ 11 , 12 ]. Furthermore, these technologies do not address vital issues regarding the preservation of the natural habitats of endangered species.…”

“…The ability to reprogram somatic cells obtained from living or recently deceased donors into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides exciting new opportunities for conversation biology [ 11 ]. While reprogramming technologies are constantly evolving, traditionally this has been accomplished through the transient expression of a group of transcription factors ( OCT4 , SOX2 , KLF4 , and c - MYC ), also called Yamanaka reprogramming factors, in cultured somatic cells.…”

Dog cloning—no longer science fiction

“…These outcomes suggested the potential of SCNT might be as a suitable tool for conservation and ensuring inheritance of unique phenotypic features in breeds. A research indicated that SCNT would be considered as a tool for resurrecting extinct species in which nuclear genomes are no longer available (Loi, Modlinski, & Ptak, ; Mastromonaco, Gonzalez‐Grajales, Filice, & Comizzoli, ). To date, however, natural breeding with traditional ART has been contemplated as a proper method for preserving endangered animal population, because the application of SCNT is still obstructed by low efficiency in regard of offspring outcomes (Loi et al., ).…”