The multi-potentiality of skin-derived stem cells in pigs

Abstract

Multipotent skin-derived stem cells represent neural-crest derived precursors which have neural and mesodermal potency and can generate neurons, glias, smooth muscle cells, and adipocytes. Transcriptional profiling studies show that both intrinsic programs and extrinsic signaling pathways mediate their neural and mesodermal potency. In addition, recent progress implies that skin-derived stem cells may have a broader developmental potency than previously expected, of which is their potential to generate germline cells in vitro. In this review, we discuss the transcriptional profiling of multipotency and neural crest-derived characteristics of skin-derived stem cells, and argue for their potential germ-line competency in the view of nuclear and cellular reprogramming.

Figure 1

The developmental potential of neural crest-derived stem cells. Neural crest stem cells can generate neural (neurons and glias) and mesodermal progeny (adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocyte and smooth muscle cells) when various extracellular signals are present. BMP2: bone morphogenetic protein 2; NRG: neuregulin; TGF-β: transforming growth factor-β; BDNF: brain derived neurotrophic factor; Dexa: dexamethasone.

Figure 2

Strategy for deciphering the neural and mesodermal potency of porcine skin-derived stem cells by microarray analysis and functional annotation clustering. Porcine SKP spheres and neurospheres were isolated from the same fetuses and cultured in the same medium. SKP spheres differentiate into SKP-derived fibroblast-like cells (SFC) with serum. Reprinted with permission from (17). The publisher for this copyrighted material is Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.

Figure 3

Prospective strategies to reprogram porcine skin-derived stem cells into germ-line cells. Porcine SKPs can generate oocyte-like cells in vitro (middle panel). Alternatively, they may be used as donor cells for nuclear transfer to produce cloned animals which can generate normal gametes in vivo (lower panel). Finally they might be reprogrammed into iPS cells by defined factors and then derive gametes by in vitro induction or in vivo chimera production and tetraploid complementation (upper panel).