Culture and diferentiation of stem cell-like cells obtained from fresh, cooled anf frozen equine embryos

• Grant number: 11/17801-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda da Cruz Landim
• Grantee: Fernanda da Cruz Landim
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Stem cells differ from others body cells for showing three features: they are undifferentiated and nun specialized; multiply for long periods while remaining undifferentiated, and a small group can lead to a large population of similar cells and are able of differentiate into specialized cells of a particular tissue. Interest in this type of cells for the veterinary medicine has grown exponentially in the last years due to its great potential use in tissue repairs and organs injured and application in therapy, including regenerative surgery. Moreover, animal's research can be used as an experimental model for studying the properties and the potential of stem cells to future applications in human medicine. The embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be classified as totipotent when are originated of embryos blastomeres in late stages of cleavage or pluripotent when obtained of inner cell mass of embryos in more advanced stages of development, differing in most of tissues, except in the embryonic tissues. Therefore, the ESCs can be a solution for the disadvantages encountered in the use of the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in tissue repairs, because they offer an unlimited potential for proliferation and longevity and the ability to grow steadily, and differentiating into cells of three germ layers. Thus, the aim of this study is to compare the isolation, culture and characterization of stem cells obtained of inner cell mass from fresh, cooled and frozen embryos, as well as induce the differentiation of ESCs cultured into three germ layers (endoderm, ectoderm, mesoderm). (AU)