Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, UMR5242, INRA, UMR1288, F-69007 Lyon.
Dev Growth Differ. 2010 Jan;52(1):101-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-169X.2009.01152.x. Epub 2009 Dec 20.
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were isolated in the early 1980s from mouse and in the late 1990s from primate and human. These cells present the unique property of self-renewal and the ability to generate differentiated progeny in all embryonic lineages both in vitro and in vivo. The mESCs (mouse embryonic stem cells) can contribute to both somatic and germinal lineages once re-injected into a recipient embryo at the blastocyst stage. In avian species, chicken embryonic stem cells (cESCs) have been isolated from the in vitro culture of early chicken blastodermal cells (cBCs) taken from stage X embryo (EG&K) These cESCs can be maintained under specific culture conditions and have been characterized on the basis of their morphology, biochemical features, in vitro differentiation potentialities and in vivo morphogenetic properties. The relationship between these cESCs and some of the chicken germ cells identified and grown under specific culture conditions are still under debate, in particular with the identification of the Cvh gene as a key factor for germ cell determination. Moreover, by cloning the avian homologue of the Oct4 mammalian gene, we have demonstrated that this gene, as well as the chicken Nanog gene, was involved in the characterization and maintenance of the chicken pluripotency. These first steps toward the understanding of pluripotency control in a non-mammalian species opens the way for the development and characterization of putative new cell types such as chicken EpiSC and raises the question of the existence of reprogramming in avian species. These different points are discussed.
胚胎干细胞（ESCs）于 20 世纪 80 年代初从老鼠中分离出来，于 20 世纪 90 年代末从灵长类动物和人类中分离出来。这些细胞具有自我更新的独特特性，并且能够在体外和体内生成所有胚胎谱系的分化后代。mESCs（小鼠胚胎干细胞）在重新注射到囊胚期受体胚胎中后，可以为体细胞和生殖细胞系做出贡献。在禽类中，鸡胚胎干细胞（cESCs）已从取自阶段 X 胚胎（EG&K）的早期鸡胚囊细胞（cBCs）的体外培养中分离出来。这些 cESCs 可以在特定的培养条件下维持，并根据其形态、生化特征、体外分化潜能和体内形态发生特性进行表征。这些 cESCs 与一些在特定培养条件下鉴定和生长的鸡生殖细胞之间的关系仍存在争议，特别是 Cvh 基因作为生殖细胞决定的关键因素的鉴定。此外，通过克隆禽类 Oct4 哺乳动物基因的同源物，我们已经证明该基因以及鸡 Nanog 基因参与了鸡多能性的表征和维持。这些在非哺乳动物物种中理解多能性控制的初步步骤为开发和表征鸡类 EpiSC 等潜在新型细胞类型开辟了道路，并提出了禽类中存在重编程的问题。讨论了这些不同的观点。
