METHODS OF PRODUCING AND USING AVIAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS AND AVIAN TELENCEPHALIC ORGANOIDS

Background

Stem cells have the potential to develop into different types of cells. They are key to an organism’s development. Producing stem cell lines are important for research. Currently, avian embryonic stems cells are cultured on a layer of feeder cells. Feeder cells ensure that the stem cells survive and do not differentiate into other types of cells. However, using feeder cells can be costly and inconvenient.

Technology Description

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have developed approaches to produce avian embryonic stem cells without using feeder cells. These stem cells can further be used to produce organoids, which are smaller and simplified versions of organs and are used for a variety of studies.

The approaches involve culturing avian epiblast cells in a cell culture medium present in a feeder-free cell culture container. The cell culture medium can be supplemented with small molecules and stable growth factors. The resulting cell-line’s pluripotency has been confirmed using alkaline phosphatase staining and immunohistochemistry.

Applications

• screening
• tissue renewal, organ development, disease etiology, viral infection, and drug discovery investigations
• comparative neurobiology studies 

Advantages

• eliminates need to culture with feeder cells