Biotechnological Potential of Chicken Stem Cells

Abstract

Stem cells, such as Spermatogonial stem cells(SSCs), are responsible to fulfil the proliferative demand of the testis so that millions of sperms are daily produced [1]. These cells have been considered as pluripotent stem cells because they are capable of differentiating into almost all cell types in the body [2]. Their pluripotent potential attracted interest of a number of researchers focusing the optimal conditions for their derivation and in vitro maintenance. Breakthroughs in stem cell research have shown that stem cells can be transdifferentiated from one type to another. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are well characterized stem cells having a multipotent differentiation potential [3-6]. In several reports, mesenchymal stem cells have been adapted to express molecular markers of primordial germ cells (PGCs), spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) and spermatogonia [7-9]. Such potentials of mesenchymal stem cells made them good candidates for the generation of germ cell lineages with possible applications in germ cell related disorders like male infertility, transgenic technologies in industrial animals like poultries and survival of rare or almost extinct species. Biotechnology has witnessed significant breakthroughs in recent decades, culminating in the development of LETTER TO EDITOR