چكيده لاتين :
Specific growth factors and feeder layers seem to have important roles in in vitro
embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiation. In this study,the effects of bone morphogenetic protein
4 (BMP4) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) co-culture system on germ cell differentiation
from mouse ESCs were studied.
Materials and Methods: Cell suspension was prepared from one-day-old embryoid body (EB)
and cultured for four days in DMEM medium containing 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS) in the
following groups: simple culture (SC), simple culture with BMP4 (SCB), co-culture (CO-C) and
co-culture with BMP4 (CO-CB). Expression of piwi-like homolog 2 (Piwil2), the germ cell-specific
gene, was evaluated in the different study groups by using quantitative real time polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR). Testis was used as a positive control.
Results: The maximum and minimum Piwil2 expression was observed in SC and SCB groups,
respectively. A significant difference was observed in Piwil2 expression between SCB and other
study groups (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that neither the addition of BMP4 in culture medium
nor the use of MEFs as a feeder layer have a positive effect on late germ cell induction from mouse
ESCs.