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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #281453
Title: Twenty years of embryonic stem cell research in farm animals

Author
item Blomberg, Le Ann
item TELEUGU, BHANU - University Of Maryland

Submitted to: Reproduction in Domestic Animals
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/3/2012
Publication Date: 7/25/2012
Citation: Blomberg, L., Teleugu, B. 2012. Twenty years of embryonic stem cell research in farm animals. Reproduction of Domestic Animals. 47(4):80-85.

Interpretive Summary: n/a

Technical Abstract: Notable distinctions between an embryonic stem cell (ESC) and somatic cell are that the ESC can maintain an undifferentiated state indefinitely, self renew, and is pluripotent, meaning that the ESC can potentially generate cells representing all the three primordial germ layers and contribute to the terminally differentiated cells of a conceptus. These attributes make the ESC an ideal source for genome editing in both agricultural and biomedical applications. Although, ESC lines have been successfully established from rodents and primates, authentic ungulate stem cell lines on the contrary are still not available. Outstanding issues including but not limited to differences in pluripotency characteristics among the existing ESC lines, pre-implantation embryo development, pluripotency pathways, and culture conditions plague our efforts to establish authentic ESC lines from farm animals. In this review, we highlight some of these issues and discuss how the recent derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) might augur the establishment of robust authentic ESC lines from farm animals.