Liu Xin, Wu Jun, Peng Yixiu, Qian Hongwu, Lv Xiaoqian, Li Fan, Jin Kai, Niu Yingjie, Song Jiuzhou, Han Wei, Chen Guohong, Li Bichun, Zuo Qisheng
Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Molecular Design of Jiangsu Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Mar 28;26(7):3122. doi: 10.3390/ijms26073122.
Insulin is an important component of stem cell cultures; however, its role in the proliferation of avian primordial germ cells (PGCs) is unknown. The proliferation of PGCs in cultures varies and the growth factors and signaling pathways necessary to induce the proliferation of PGCs in chickens are unknown. Therefore, we conducted the present study to investigate the effect of insulin on the survival and proliferation of PGCs. In this study, we observed that under this culture system, PGCs proliferate in the presence of insulin, but do not proliferate in the absence of insulin. Furthermore, in insulin-lacking media, the expression of pluripotency genes, including , , , and was markedly decreased. Similarly, the expression of cell adhesion proteins , , and was significantly reduced. Elevated levels of ROS, GSSG, and MDA reduced the redox capacity of the cells and induced apoptosis. Subsequent transcriptome analyses revealed that insulin is one of the key factors in the proliferation of chicken PGCs through the regulation of downstream genes by PI3K/AKT, ECM-receptor interaction, Wnt, and P53 signaling, and that these downstream genes may be important for PGCs' proliferation and survival.
胰岛素是干细胞培养的重要组成部分；然而，其在禽类原始生殖细胞（PGCs）增殖中的作用尚不清楚。培养物中PGCs的增殖存在差异，且诱导鸡PGCs增殖所需的生长因子和信号通路也未知。因此，我们开展了本研究以探究胰岛素对PGCs存活和增殖的影响。在本研究中，我们观察到在该培养系统下，PGCs在有胰岛素存在时增殖，但在无胰岛素时不增殖。此外，在缺乏胰岛素的培养基中，包括 、 、 和 在内的多能性基因的表达显著降低。同样，细胞黏附蛋白 、 和 的表达也明显减少。活性氧（ROS）、氧化型谷胱甘肽（GSSG）和丙二醛（MDA）水平升高降低了细胞的氧化还原能力并诱导细胞凋亡。随后的转录组分析表明，胰岛素是鸡PGCs增殖的关键因素之一，它通过PI3K/AKT、细胞外基质受体相互作用、Wnt和P53信号通路调节下游基因，并且这些下游基因可能对PGCs的增殖和存活很重要。
