• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.47-47
• /
• 2001

One of the problems associated with in vitro culture of primordial germ cells (PGCs) is the large loss of cells during the initial period of culture. This study characterized the initial loss and determined the effectiveness of two classes of apoptosis inhibitors, protease inhibitors and antioxidants, on the ability of porcine PGCs to survive in culture. Results from electron microscopic analysis and in situ DNA fragmentation assay indicated that porcine PGCs rapidly undergo apoptosis when placed in culture. Additionally,？ 2-macroglobulin, a protease inhibitor and cytokine carrier, and N-acetylcysteine, an antioxidant, increased the survival of PGCs in vitro. While other protease inhibitors tested did not affect survival of PGCs, all antioxidants tested improved survival of PGCs (p〈0.05). Further results indicated that the beneficial effect of the antioxidants was critical only during the initial period of culture. Finally, it was determined that in short-term culture, in the absence of feeder layers, antioxidants could partially replace the effect(s) of growth factors and reduce apoptosis. Collectively, these results indicate that the addition of ？2-macroglobulin and antioxidants can increase the number of PGCs in vitro by suppressing apoptosis.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.119-129
• /
• 1999

In recent years, numerous researches have been carried out in author's laboratory to develop several kinds of methods for producing transgened chicken, leaving a lot of new findings. Some of them are very useful to search for new approaches necessary to improve the efficiency of hatchability and the survival rate of developing trasgened embryos. The results obtained hitherto might be summarized as follows: (1) foreign gene(Lac Z/ Miw Z) introduced into blastodermal cells of developing embryos was successfully transferred to embryos, leading to the production of primordial germ cells(PGCs) carrying foreign DNA. However, hatched hickens failed to show the incorporation of introduced gene into the gonads. (2) When foreign gene was introduced into germinal crescent region (GCR), the gene was also efficiently incorporated into germ cells, resulting in the production of transgened chickens(offspring) which produced fruther offspring having foreign gene in the gonads. In this case, 2nd and 3rd generations of chickens were obtained through the reproduction of transgened birds. (3) In another way, the gene was injected into blood vessels of developing embryos at stage 13∼15, creating PGCs having foreign gene, and produced some transgened chickens. In this work, the PGCs were transfered between embryos, resulting in the production of transgenic chickens. (4) in these experiments, PGCs were effectively employed for producing transgenic birds, developing some kinds of chimeric chickens from homo- or hetero-sexual transfer of the PGCs from embryos. This means that the gonads from donor PGCs developed in some degree to the stage of hatching. However, these gonads showed slightly abnormal tissues similar to ovotestis like organs through histological examination. (5) Avian Leukosis Virus(ALV) induced B cell line(DT40) successfully carried foreign genes into chicken embryos, suggesting the possibility of the cells as a vector in this field of study in the future. (6) Inter-embryonic transfer of the PGCs also gave us some.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.8
• /
• pp.1188-1191
• /
• 1999

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) of White Leghorn chicken embryos as a donor were transferred to Rhode Island Red chicken embryos as a recipient. At 48-50 h (stage 13-15) of incubation of fertilized eggs, donor PGCs, which were taken out from blood vessels of donor embryos, were injected into blood vessels of recipient embryos. Sex of the treated embryos was determined after the transfer of PGCs using remaining blood samples. In the present experiments, survival rate of the treated embryos was 33.3% for homo-sexual and 35.4% for hetero-sexual transfers of PGCs, respectively, when determined at 17 days of incubation. In this study, most of the treated embryos could not survive more than 18 days of incubation, though the reason for that was not clarified in the present work. The gonalds removed from embryos that died after 18 days of incubation and the organs from newly hatched chicks were examined for morphological and histological features. The gonads removed from the embryos with homo-sexual transfer of PGCs showed normal development in appearance. On the contrary, some (35.3%) of the embryos with hetero-sexual transfer of PGCs possessed abnormal gonads similar to ovotestis by histological observation. In cases where the gonads developed to be normal organs (64.7%) the sex of embryos was the same as recipient ones. The present results suggest that hetero-sexual transfer of the PGCs may bring about the possibility of development of the embryos bearing sexually different gametes, spermatogonia or oogonia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.15 no.9
• /
• pp.1227-1231
• /
• 2002

A powerful tool for chicken transgenesis could be established by employing a germline chimera production through primordial germ cell transplantation. This study was conducted to examine whether foreign gene-transfected gonadal primordial germ cells (gPGCs) have a migration activity into the gonad after transfer to recipient embryos. In Experiment 1, gPGCs of Korean Ogol Chicken were retrieved from 5.5-day-old embryos and subsequently transferred to the dorsal aorta of 2.5-day-old White Leghorn embryos after being labeled with PKH26 fluorescent dye. To confirm migration activity after transplantation, recipient embryos were sacrificed and examined on 3 days after transfer. Sex determination was concomitantly undertaken to examine whether sex of recipient embryos could affect the migration activity of gPGCs. All of embryonic gonads examined showed positive signals with PKH26 fluorescence and W-chromosome specific band by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was detected in male embryos when gPGCs with ZW chromosome were transferred to recipient embryos. In Experiment 2, retrieved gPGCs were transfected with LacZ gene-containing cytomegalovirus promoter ($pCMV{\beta}$) by electroporation and subsequently transferred to recipient embryos. LacZ gene expression was identified in the gonads of 6 or 10-day-old recipient embryos and hatched-chicks. A total of 20 embryos and 12 hatched-chicks were examined and 11 of them (10 embryos and one hatched chicken; 11/32=34.4%) expressed $\beta$-galactosidase, a marker substance of LacZ gene. The results of this study demonstrated that foreign gene-transfected gPGCs can migrate and settle down into the gonad after being transferred into the blood vessel of the recipient embryos. This established technique will contribute to developing a peer biotechnology for transgenic chicken.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.385-394
• /
• 2000

When porcine primordial germ cells (PGCs) isolated from the genital ridge and placed in culture to establish EG cells, a large proportion of PGCs are lost during the early period of culture. To characterize the in vitro death of porcine PGCs, PGCs were cultured in suspension, and apoptosis analyzed using a fluorescent activated cell sorter-based DNA fragmentation assay. The results from flow cytometric analysis showed an increase in apoptosis in cultured cells. However, the cells isolated from the genital ridges are a mixture of PGCs and somatic cells. To detect apoptotic signals specific from porcine PGCs, quantitative TUNEL assay was performed at different time of culture (0 ∼ 24 h). The proportion of apoptotic porcine PGCs determined by double staining with alkaline phosphatase activity and in situ TUNEL assay increased as the time of culture progressed and continued at least 24 h. These results demonstrate that one of the causes of loss of porcine PGCs in vitro is apoptosis.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.98-99
• /
• 2002

Collection of large number of gonadal Primordial germ cells(gPGCs) is a prerequisite factor for improving germline transmission efficacy in the aves, In this study a magnetic-activated cell sorter(MACS) was applied for improving retrieval efficacy of quail gPGCs and the migration capacity of MACS-separated gPGCs was further examined after being transplanted to recipient embryos. We also induced germline chimeras by transfer of MACS-separated quail gPGCs at the efficiency of 17.4% on average.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
• /
• 2001.11a
• /
• pp.69-70
• /
• 2001

Lectins have great potential as to determine the alternation of the distribution of cell surface carbohydrates during cellular development and differentiation. Here, we investigated the presence and distribution of cell surface carbohydrates on chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) during the migration and gonadal stages using a variety of lectins. A total of six FITC-labelled lectins from several specificity classes were used: ConA (glucose/mannose), WGA (N-acetylglucosamine), STA (N-acetylglucosamine), DBA (N-acetylgalactosamine/galactose), UEA-I (fucose) and PHA-E (oilgosaccharide). As a results, PGC-specific binding was observed in STA. PGCs of migration stage (2.5- and 5.5-day embyos) were STA-positive whereas PGCs of 10-day embryonic gonad were not. The results suggest that N-acetylglucosamine residuse are present specifically in migrating chicken PGCs and changes during development.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Poultry Science Conference
• /
• 2000.11a
• /
• pp.88-90
• /
• 2000

Although primordial germ cells(PGCs) have been used in the production of germline chimera, efficiency has not been satisfactory. The Present study was conducted to improve efficiency of germline chimera production using the cultured gonadal PGCs(gPGCs). Germline chimeric chickens were produced by transfer of cultured gonadal primordial germ cells from Korean Ogol Chicken (KOC) to White Leghorn (5.5-day-old) and cultured in vitro for 10 days. Approximately 200 gPGCs (2-day-old) recipient embryos from which blood had been withdrawn via the dorsal aorta prior to the injection. Recipient embryos were incubated until hatching. Germline chimerism of the chickens reaching maturity was examined by mating them with Korean Ogol Chicken. Donor-derived offspring were identified as germline chimeric chickens based on their feather color. The frequency of germline transmission of donor PGCs ranged 1.9∼60.7%. There was no difference between both sexes. Therefore, it can be concluded that efficiency of germline chimerism can be improved via using cultured gPGCs.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 1985

In this study, the pathway and date of migrating Primordial germ cells (PGCs) were observed light microscopically and ultrastructural changes of them during migration were observed by electron microscopic examination. For these purpose, alkaline phosphatase reactions were used for identifying the PGCs and acid phosphatase reactions were used for observing their degenerating activities. Also, effects of actinomycin D on the migration of PGCs were examined. According to these results, at the 9th gestation day, PGCs were observed in the endodermal cells of yolk sac, at the 11th gestation day, they were seen in the hindgut and then entered into the dorsal mesentery by the 13th gestation day. At the 14th gestation day, they were located in the genital ridges. When PGCs were located in the hindgut and genital ridges, the positive reactions of alkaline phosphatase were dominated, but acid phosphatase reactions were limited in all stage except they were in dorsal mesentery. However, these reactions were lessened in case of actinomycin D treatment. By electron microscopic examination, PGCs had pseudopodia, tail process, trailing cytoplasm and nuage as the ultrastructural characteristics. In addition, these morphological features were damaged by actinomycin D treatment.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.417-425
• /
• 2013

We sought to provide a method for freezing and preserving primordial germ cells, or an avian germ cell of a bird, as a material for developmental engineering or species preservation. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of slow freezing with a vitrification method for the cryopreservation of chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs). PGCs obtained from the germinal gonad of day 5.5-6 day (stage 28) cultured chick embryos, using the MACS method, were classified into two groups: slow freezing and vitrification. We examined the viability of PGCs after Cryopreservation. Four freezing methods were compared with each other, including the following: Method 1: The PGCs were frozen by a programmed freezer in a plastic straw, including 2.0 M ethylene glycol (EG) as cryoprotective additive (slow freezing) Method 2: The PGCs were vitrified in a plastic straw, including 8.0 M EG, plus 7% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (rapid freezing). Method 3: The slow freezing was induced with a cryotube including 2.0 M EG Method 4: The PGCs were frozen in a cryotube including 10% dimethyl suloxide (DMSO) (rapid freezing). After freezing and thawing, survival rates of the frozen-thawed PGCs from Method 1 to 4were 76.4%, 70.6%, 80.5% and 78.1% (p<0.05), respectively. The slow freezing ($-80^{\circ}C$ programmed freezer) method may provide better survival rates of frozen-thawed PGCs than the vitrification method for the cryopreservation of PGCs. Therefore, these systems may contribute to the cryopreservation of a rare avian species.