In vitro generation of porcine primordial germ cells and functional evaluation in vivo.

• Grant number: 15/25564-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): June 02, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal researcher: André Furugen Cesar de Andrade
• Grantee: Naira Caroline Godoy Pieri
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 17/14884-9 - Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through different reprogramming methods and characterization of pluripotency state in the dog model., BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The primordial germ cells (PGCs) are formed during the early embryo development in epiblast. These cells realizea migration thought the yolk sac and after this first migration, they migrate to colonize the genital ridge,proliferate and differentiate into mature gametes, gametogenesis and allowing the generation of a new individual.However, studies with PGCs are limited due to their localization into the embryo and the fact that the migrationprocess is not well known in all species. It was recently reported that mice embryonic stem cells (ESCs) arecapable of differentiating into PGCs on in vitro environment. Another way to generate PGCs is through inducedpluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are reprogrammed cells capable of differentiating into any cell type andfeature characteristic of embryonic stem cells thus has been used in many studies, especially in biotechnology.Thus obtaining (iPGCs) and mature gametes through iPS an extremely necessary and interesting, because thecan open a new field for an alternative solution that can be used in reproduction clinics, as well for theunderstanding of the complex mechanism of gametogenesis and beneficial for both agricultural and biomedicalapplications. However, the production of these cells in vitro has been carried out in the animal model withinterest in generating transgenic animals. In this context, pigs are considered a viable and interesting animalmodel for this research area, thus they have several similar characteristics with the humans and can beincorporated into clinical interests. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of swine ofprimordial germ cells (PGCs) and the development of these cells in vitro by means of induced pluripotent stemcells (iPS), and can in future studies to verify the potential viability of these cells in vivo and evaluate thepotential of preclinicalanimal model for use in future studies in veterinary medicine and humanrelateddefectsof germ cells or other diseases that can cause infertility or lack of functional gametes.