scholarly journals Embryonic Stem Cell Lines of Nonhuman Primates

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1762-1773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norio Nakatsuji ◽  
Hirofumi Suemori

Human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines have opened great potential and expectation for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Monkey and human ES cell lines, which are very similar to each other, have been established from monkey blastocysts and surplus human blastocysts from fertility clinics.Nonhuman primate ES cell lines provide important research tools for basic and applicative research. Firstly, they provide wider aspects of investigation of the regulative mechanisms of stem cells and cell differentiation among primate species. Secondly, their usage does not need clearance or permission from the regulative rules in many countries that are associated with the ethical aspects of human ES cells, although human and nonhuman embryos and fetuses are very similar to each other. Lastly and most importantly, they are indispensable for animal models of cell therapy to test effectiveness, safety, and immunological reaction of the allogenic transplantation in a setting similar to the treatment of human diseases.So far, ES cell lines have been established from rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), and cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis), using blastocysts produced naturally or by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). These cell lines seem to have very similar characteristics. They express alkaline phosphatase activity and stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-4 and, in most cases, SSEA-3. Their pluripotency was confirmed by the formation of embryoid bodies and differentiation into various cell types in culture and also by the formation of teratomas that contained many types of differentiated tissues including derivatives of three germ layers after transplantation into the severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice.The noneffectiveness of the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) signal makes culture of primate and human ES cell lines prone to undergo spontaneous differentiation and thus it is difficult to maintain these stem cell colonies. Also, these ES cells are more susceptible to various stresses, causing difficulty with subculturing using enzymatic treatment and cloning from single cells. However, with various improvements in culture methods, it is now possible to maintain stable colonies of monkey ES cells using a serum-free medium and subculturing with trypsin treatment. Under such conditions, cynomolgus monkey ES cell lines can be maintained in an undifferentiated state with a normal karyotype and pluripotency even after prolonged periods of culture over 1 year. Such progress should facilitate many aspects of stem cell research using both nonhuman primate and human ES cell lines.

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 224
Author(s):  
J. Okahara-Narita ◽  
J. Yamasaki ◽  
C. Iwatani ◽  
H. Tsuchiya ◽  
K. Wakimoto ◽  
...  

The establishment of most embryonic stem (ES) cell lines requires the destruction of embryos. Some ES cell lines in mice and humans are currently derived from a single blastomere, so that remaining blastomeres can still develop into fetuses. However, the procedures currently in use for establishing these lines are very complicated, and other ES cell lines from the same species are needed (Chung et al. 2006 Nature 439, 216–219; Klimanskaya et al. 2006 Nature 444, 481–485). The objective of this study was to devise a method simpler than those previously described for establishing ES cell lines from a single blastomere in the cynomolgus monkey. Controlled ovarian stimulation and oocyte recovery have been described previously by Torii et al. (2000 Primates 41, 39–47). Cumulus-free mature oocytes were fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and then cultured at 38�C in 5% CO2, 5% O2 for 2 days. The zona pellucida of 4- to 5-cell-stage embryos was disrupted using acidic Tyrode's solution, and individual blastomeres were separated from the denuded embryos using trypsin. These blastomeres were cultured on mitomycin-C-treated mouse embryonic fibroblasts and ES medium containing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (Ogawa et al. 2004 Genes to Cells 9, 471–477). After the formation of initial outgrowths, half of the medium was changed every other day until the outgrowths reached approximately 100 cells. Passage of putative monkey ES cells was performed by mechanical dispersion of the colonies and transfer to fresh feeders every 3–4 days until there were enough cells for enzymatic dispersion. One stable ES cell line was obtained from two 4- or 5-cell-stage embryos using ES medium containing ACTH. The morphology of this ES cell colony was consistent with the monkey ES cell colony previous described by Suemori et al. (2001 Dev. Dynamics 222, 273–279). The ES cell line was passaged more than 17 times, and the morphology of the ES cell colony did not differ between the first and seventeenth passages. The ES cells showed normal karyotype and retained pluripotency markers for primate ES cells including octamer-binding protein 4 (Oct-4), stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-4, tumor-rejection antigen (TRA)-1-60, and TRA-1-81. We are presently confirming whether this ES cell line possesses potencies to differentiate in all three embryonic germ layers using both an in vitro assay and teratoma formation. Here we showed that cynomolgus monkey ES cells can be derived from a single blastomere, without co-culturing another ES cell line, as has been done in previous studies on mice and humans. This method allows the establishment of ES cell lines from a single blastomere, leaving the other blastomeres available for embryo transfer. Thus, the method described here is simpler than previously described methods and alleviates some ethical concerns.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
A. Kusanagi ◽  
J. Yamasaki ◽  
C. Iwatani ◽  
H. Tsuchiya ◽  
R. Torii

Human and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from the inner cell mass of preimplantation blastocysts and human ES cells were long thought to be equivalent to mouse ES cells, despite clear morphological difference and different signalling pathways to maintain their pluripotency between these two ES cell types. Mouse ES cells depend on leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) signalling, whereas their human counterparts rely on basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and activin A signalling. The biggest difference of two ES cells is the ability of chimera formation and mouse ES cells can contribute chimera but primate ES cells fails to do that. Monkey ES cells in primates only can be tested for chimera formation in vivo due to the ethical issue and cynomolgus monkey is the most common nonhuman primate to be used for the safety study of drug discoveries. The objective of this study was to develop novel cynomolgus monkey ES cells that have similar biological properties with mouse ES cell and our ultimate goal is to establish germline competent nonhuman primate ES cells. Ovarian stimulation and oocyte collection were carried out for the derivation of ES cells as previously described by Torii et al. Briefly, GnRH (0.9 mg/head) was administered to cynomolgus monkey and two weeks later, a micro infusion pump (iPRECIO™, Primetech Corp) contains FSH was implanted subcutaneously. Follicular aspiration was then performed 40 h after hCG injection and metaphase II oocytes were fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Cynomolgus monkey ES cells were then established under mouse ES cell conditions such as LIF/STAT signalling and a dome tree-dimensional (3D) morphology nonhuman primate ES cells were selected. On the other hands, ES cells that were established with the presence of basic FGF showed conventional layer-type morphology. Dome-type ES cells express pluripotent transcriptional factors such as Oct-3/4, Nonog and Sox2 as same as layer-type ES cells and both ES lines were capable of multilineage differentiations in vitro after embryoid body formation. Dome-type nonhuman ES cells can also form teratomas and differentiated into all three germ layers when grafted into immunodeficiency mice. For fluorescent gene delivery to nonhuman primate ES cells, feeder-free condition was applied and CAG-GFP vector was transfected into ES cells using Neon electroporation system (Invitrogen Inc.) for the tracing ES cells in the transplantation study. In this study, we have established dome-type ES cell lines that similar to mouse ES cells in morphology and signalling pathway. Dome-type nonhuman primate ES cells express pluripotent gene markers and prove their pluripotency both of in vitro and in vivo, in addition, these modifications would be important to create germline competent ES cells.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 4059-4059
Author(s):  
Aravind Ramakrishnan ◽  
Brian Hayes ◽  
Sara R. Fagerlie ◽  
Szczepan Baran ◽  
Michael Harkey ◽  
...  

Abstract Embryonic stem (ES) cells have created considerable excitement in the last few years due to their unlimited potential to produce cells for tissue repair and replacement. However, a large animal pre-clinical model is necessary to establish the safety and efficacy of ES cell-derived tissue replacement therapy. The canine model has long been used in medical research, has been well established to study adult stem cell transplantation and has been highly predictive of clinical outcomes in humans, more so than rodent models. Given the documented record for extrapolating from dog to man, we hypothesize that the dog would serve as an ideal pre-clinical in vivo model for studying the clinical applications of ESC derived tissue. Eleven putative ES cell lines were initiated from canine blastocysts harvested from natural matings. One line described here, FHDO-7, has been maintained through 34 passages and has many characteristics of ES cells from other species. FHDO-7 cells are alkaline phosphatase positive and express both message and protein for the Oct4 transcription factor. They also express message for Nanog and do not express message for Cdx2 which is associated with trophectoderm. Furthermore, they express a cluster of pluripotency-associated microRNAs (miR-302b, miR-302c and miR-367) that have been found to be characteristic of human and mouse ES cells. The FHDO-7 cells grow on feeder layers of modified mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) as flat colonies that resemble ES cells from mink, a close phylogenetic relative of dog. When cultured in nonadherent plates without feeders the cells form embryoid bodies (EB). Under various culture conditions the EBs give rise to ectoderm-derived neuronal cells expressing β3-tubulin, mesoderm-derived osteocytes producing bone, and endoderm-derived cells expressing alpha feto protein or Clara cell specific protein. These results indicate that FHDO-7 is a pluripotent embryonic stem cell line.


Reproduction ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiro Shimozawa ◽  
Shinichiro Nakamura ◽  
Ichiro Takahashi ◽  
Masanori Hatori ◽  
Tadashi Sankai

Several cell types from the African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), such as red blood cells, primary culture cells from kidney, and the Vero cell line, are valuable sources for biomedical research and testing. Embryonic stem (ES) cells that are established from blastocysts have pluripotency to differentiate into these and other types of cells. We examined an in vitro culture system of zygotes produced by ICSI in African green monkeys and attempted to establish ES cells. Culturing with and without a mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cell monolayer resulted in the development of ICSI-derived zygotes to the blastocyst stage, while culturing with a buffalo rat liver cell monolayer yielded no development (3/14, 21.4% and 6/31, 19.4% vs 0/23, 0% respectively; P<0.05). One of the nine blastocysts, which had been one of the zygotes co-cultured with MEF cells, formed flat colonies consisting of cells with large nuclei, similar to other primate ES cell lines. The African green monkey ES (AgMES) cells expressed pluripotency markers, formed teratomas consisting of three embryonic germ layer tissues, and had a normal chromosome number. Furthermore, expression of the germ cell markers CD9 and DPPA3 (STELLA) was detected in the embryoid bodies, suggesting that AgMES cells might have the potential ability to differentiate into germ cells. The results suggested that MEF cells greatly affected the quality of the inner cell mass of the blastocysts. In addition, AgMES cells would be a precious resource for biomedical research such as other primate ES cell lines.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.-W. Ou ◽  
K.-H. Lee ◽  
L.-R. Chen ◽  
P.-C. Tang ◽  
H.-F. Guu ◽  
...  

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent cells from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst. They are capable of differentiating to various cell types, such as neural cells, cardiocytes, hepatic cells, and germ cells. The aim of this study was to establish rabbit ES cell lines as an animal model for human diseases. Blastocysts were collected from New Zealand White rabbits during Days 4 to 5 after breeding. After removal of the mucin coat and the zona pellucida by pronase, the embryos were directly cultured in ES cell medium on mitomycin C-treated mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) or STO feeder layers. In Experiment 1, the efficiencies of 2 different feeder layers, MEF and STO, in generating rabbit ES cell lines were compared. Six blastocysts were used for each STO and MEF feeder group. The primary ICM colonies were formed in 67% (4/6) of the cultures on the STO and 83% (5/6) on the MEF. Sixty percent of those primary colonies (3/5) were successfully grown into ES-like cell lines in the MEF feeder group. However, no cell lines were established on the STO feeder. In Experiment 2, whole blastocysts or ICMs isolated by immunosurgery were cultured to establish ES cell lines. A total of 21 blastocysts were recovered from 2 does. Eighteen whole blastocysts and 3 isolated ICMs were cultured on the MEF feeders. Twelve (67%) of the cultured whole blastocysts formed primary ICM colonies, of which 5 (42%) of the cultures continuously propagated and formed ES-like cell lines. In the immunosurgical group, 2 of the 3 isolated ICMs formed primary colonies but only 1 ES-like cell line was established. A total of 9 ES-like cell lines maintained morphological undifferentiation after 14 passages and expressed alkaline phosphatase activity. Seven of the 9 ES-like cells expressed Oct-4 and the stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA-4) as detected by immunocytochemical staining. Two cell lines were further induced to differentiate into embryoid bodies in suspension culture. Another 3 cell lines were injected into SCID mice and one of them formed a teratoma. The competence of generating chimeric rabbits and the teratogenicity of the established ES-like cell lines are under evaluation. In conclusion, rabbit ES-like cells were efficiently generated and whole-blastocyst culturing on the MEF feeder appeared to be a preferred method for the isolation and maintenance of rabbit ES-like cell lines.


1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mountford ◽  
Jennifer Nichols ◽  
Branko Zevnik ◽  
Carmel O'Brien ◽  
Austin Smith

As gastrulation proceeds, pluripotential stem cells with the capacity to contribute to all primary germ layers disappear from the mammalian embryo. The extinction of pluripotency also occurs during the formation of embryoid bodies from embryonic stem (ES) cells. In this report we show that if the initial differentiated progeny are removed from ES cell aggregates, further differentiation does not proceed and the stem cell population persists and expands. Significantly, the presence of even minor populations of differentiated cells lead to the complete loss of stem cells from the cultures. This finding implies that the normal elimination of pluripotent cells is dictated by inductive signals provided by differentiated progeny. We have exploited this observation to develop a strategy for the isolation of pluripotential cells. This approach, termed stem cell selection, may have widespread applicability to the derivation and propagation of stem cells.


2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 631-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuyuki Takada ◽  
Yutaka Suzuki ◽  
Yasushi Kondo ◽  
Nae Kadota ◽  
Kinji Kobayashi ◽  
...  

The major limitation of nonhuman primate (NHP) embryonic stem (ES) cell research is inefficient genetic modification and limited knowledge of differentiation mechanisms. A genetically modified NHP-ES cell with biomarkers, such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), that allow noninvasive monitoring of transgenic cells, is a useful tool to study cell differentiation control during preimplantation and fetal development, which also plays a crucial role in the development of cell transplantation medicine. Here we report the establishment of transgenic NHP-ES cell lines that express GFP without jeopardizing their pluripotency, which was confirmed by in vitro and in vivo differentiation. These GFP-expressing ES cells reproducibly differentiated into embryoid bodies, neural cells, and cardiac myocytes. They formed teratoma composed of tissues derived from the three embryonic germ layers when transplanted into severe combined immunodeficient disease (SCID) mice. GFP expression was maintained in these differentiated cells, suggesting that these cells were useful for cell transplantation experiments. Furthermore, we showed that these ES cells have the ability to form chimeric blastocysts by introducing into the early preimplantation stage NHP embryo.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
K. S. Ahn ◽  
S. J. Jeon ◽  
J. Y. Jung ◽  
T. Choi ◽  
S. J. Choi ◽  
...  

Embryonic stem (ES) cells isolated from inner cell mass cells of blastocyst-stage embryos are capable of differentiating into various cell lineages. Transplantation of these cells may potentially be a treatment for many degenerative diseases. Such cell therapy has often been tested using allografts of ES cells in mice. However, it has been difficult to locate transplanted ES cells and to avoid the rejection of allogeneic ES cells by the host. The aims of this study were to establish ES cell lines ubiquitously expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and to test survival of ES cells in allografts into the cochlea of inbred C57BL/6 mice. Nine hatched blastocysts collected from a C57BL/6-green mouse that ubiquitously expresses transgene EGFP were plated onto an inactivated STO feeder layer. Two putative ES-like colonies were obtained from the plated blastocysts, and repeated subculture of these colonies produced two cell lines expressing EGFP. The cell lines possessed typical characteristics of ES cells, including densely packed colonies of the cells with prominent nucleoli, a high nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, and high alkaline phosphatase activity. In suspension culture, these cells formed simple and cystic embryoid bodies. Undifferentiated EGFP-transgenic ES cells (106 cells per mouse) were injected into the cochlea of five C57BL/6 mice deafened by gentamycin treatment. Although no behavioral changes were noticed until four weeks after the transplantation, histological study revealed that grafted cells survived in the scala media of all injected mice. Incorporation of the cells expressing EGFP into the host was found along the auditory nerve fibers close to the organ of Corti. Such incorporation was also discovered in the area of the spiral ganglion neurons, cochlear sensory epithelia, and stria vascularis. Morphology and size of the cells varied depending on their sites of incorporation. The results from the present study demonstrate that, due to their survival in transplantation without allogeneic rejection as well as ubiquitous and stable expression of EGFP, ES cells from an EGFP-transgenic mouse may be a useful means of studying cell therapy.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 6755-6758
Author(s):  
B R Stanton ◽  
S W Reid ◽  
L F Parada

We have disrupted one allele of the N-myc locus in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells by using homologous recombination techniques and have obtained germ line transmission of null N-myc ES cell lines with transmission of the null N-myc allele to the offspring. The creation of mice with a deficient N-myc allele will allow the generation of offspring bearing null N-myc alleles in both chromosomes and permit study of the role that this proto-oncogene plays in embryonic development.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 813-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tada ◽  
M. Tada ◽  
N. Takagi

A cytogenetic and biochemical study of balloon-like cystic embryoid bodies, formed by newly established embryonic stem (ES) cell lines having a cytogenetically or genetically marked X chromosome, revealed that the paternally derived X chromosome was inactivated in the majority of cells in the yolk sac-like mural region consisting of the visceral endoderm and mesoderm. The nonrandomness was less evident in the more solid polar region containing the ectodermal vesicle, mesoderm and visceral endoderm. Since the same was true in embryoid bodies derived from ES cells at the 30th subculture generation, it was concluded that the imprinting responsible for the preferential inactivation of the paternal X chromosome that was limited to non-epiblast cells of the female mouse embryos, was stably maintained in undifferentiated ES cells. Differentiating epiblast cells should be able to erase or avoid responding to the imprint.


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