School of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, Jiangsu University, and Department of Clinical Laboratory, Jiangsu Province Hospital on Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Jiangsu 212013, PR China.
Oncol Rep. 2012 Oct;28(4):1385-91. doi: 10.3892/or.2012.1909. Epub 2012 Jul 13.
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are usually maintained in an undifferentiated state by co-culture with feeder cells. The feeder cells are important for the growth of hESCs. A novel spontaneously immortalizated mouse fetal liver stromal cell line, named KM3, was isolated from a 13.5‑day mouse fetal liver. In this study, we examined whether KM3 cells could be used as feeders to support the growth of hESCs. hESCs cultured on KM3 cells showed a similar proliferation rate and characteristics to mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) after prolonged culture, including morphology, unlimited and undifferentiated proliferative ability, maintenance of normal karyotypes, formation of embryoid bodies in vitro and typically immature teratomas in vivo. Our results indicate that the immortalized KM3 cell line has the potential to support the growth and maintenance of hESCs. The cell line may be used for the large-scale expansion of hESCs in a low-cost and less labor-intensive manner.
人胚胎干细胞（hESCs）通常通过与饲养细胞共培养来维持未分化状态。饲养细胞对于 hESC 的生长非常重要。本研究从 13.5 天的胎鼠肝脏中分离出一种新型自发永生化的鼠胎肝基质细胞系，命名为 KM3。我们研究了 KM3 细胞是否可用作饲养细胞来支持 hESC 的生长。在长时间培养后，在 KM3 细胞上培养的 hESC 显示出与小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞（MEFs）相似的增殖率和特性，包括形态、无限和未分化的增殖能力、正常核型的维持、体外胚状体的形成以及体内典型的未成熟畸胎瘤。我们的结果表明，永生化的 KM3 细胞系具有支持 hESC 生长和维持的潜力。该细胞系可用于以低成本和较少劳动强度的方式大规模扩增 hESC。
