Signaling Roadmap Modulating Chicken Primordial Germ Cells Proliferation and Self-Renewal

In the life science technologies, the chicken Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) are recognized as the most practical cells compared to the other chicken stem cells. For this purpose, the isolation and long-term culture of these cells are of great importance for the production of therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, endangered species protection, and chimeric bird production. However, one of the major challenges of working with these cells is their lack of proliferation and self-renewal ability in the laboratory environment. Recent researches on chick PGCs have shown that the pluripotency-related signaling pathways active in these cells are highly effective in their in vitro proliferation and self-renewal. Therefore in this review, we tried to summarize and evaluate the mechanisms of the most important pluripotency-related signaling pathways in chicken PGCs, which may result in achieving the reproducible line for these cell types. Studies have shown that one method to induce pluripotency in PGCs is to manipulate signaling pathways, including TGF-β and Wnt/β-catenin, using growth factors and small molecules. Along with activation of signaling pathways involved in self-renewal, improving culture conditions can be an effective way to achieve chicken PGC cell line. It could be concluded that providing a defined culture condition and activating specific signaling pathways can lead to induction of proliferation in chick PGCs.