Porcine Embryonic Stem Cells and Their Application- A Review

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) represent a promising tool for regenerative medicine, tissue repair and cell therapy. They are having high plasticity and possess very unique characteristics due to their unlimited self-renewal ability which allow them to differentiate into all embryonic tissues. The establishment of ESC lines in domestic livestock species could have great impact in the veterinary and biomedical fields. Derivation of pig ESC would find important applications in improving health and production traits through genetic engineering because of its immunological, morphological, physiological and functional similarities to the human which makes pig a very effective and suitable animal model for biomedical studies and pre-clinical trials. Pluripotent stem cells such as ESCs and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will provide potential cell sources for gene editing and in the field of regenerative medicine. Here we provide a brief introduction and history of embryonic stem cell, timing of isolation, the use of different culture conditions, the pluripotency-related molecular markers in the pigs and future prospective.