Generation of induced pluripotency stem cells (iPSCs) from adult cells of small red deer (Mazama jucunda) followed by their differentiation into primordial germ cells (PGCs)

• Grant number: 24/16362-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Fabiana Fernandes Bressan
• Grantee: Luana Scarpelini Rosa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The world's biodiversity is currently extremely threatened due to countless anthropogenic factors, requiring conservation efforts to ensure its survival. Currently, 1253 Brazilian animal species are considered threatened, one of them being the small red brocket (Mazama jucunda), an animal endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome, considered vulnerable by the IUCN and believed to have the smallest geographic distribution of all the cervidae family. Due to the threats this species faces, conservation programs aim to protect not only the habitat of these animals, but also their genetic material, which is essential for the species' resilience and resistance. In this context, reproductive biotechnologies prove to be very important for preserving animals' genetic material, revolutionizing conservation strategies. In this study, we plan to produce and characterize iPS cells originated from fibroblast belonging to Mazama jucunda, via episomal approach, followed by the differentiation of the iPSCs to primordial germ cells (PGCs), an unprecedented technique for the species. Generating iPSC from somatic cells is a promising resource for animal reproduction, having many possibilities for its use, such as research on diseases and therapies, being able to possibly contribute to the correction of infertility, as well as differentiation of iPSCs into PGCs and subsequent in vitro production of gametes. The possibility of gametogenesis from these cells would make iPSCs banks inexhaustible sources of gametes, a resource that is hard to be obtained from wild species and very valuable for conservation. To our knowledge, there are still no reports of iPSC derived from the cervidae family. In light of this, obtaining iPSCs, as intended by this study, followed by the differentiation into PGCs, will be an important contribution for the reproductive biotechnologies regarding conservation of not only the species subject of study, but also the other members of the cervidae family.