Improved Isolation and Culture of Embryonic Germ Cells from Guanzhong Dairy Goat

A total of 219 embryonic-germ-cell-like (EG-like) clumps were derived from 15 selected goat fetuses. Isolation of primordial germ cells (PGCs) based on co-culture with primary goat embryonic fibroblast showed no difference from traditional feeder layer-based culture method used in mouse and human. The putative primary EG colonies were multilayer clumps of compact cells with unclear cell-cell boundaries. Three subculture methods of goat EG-like colony, traditional enzymatic digestion, mechanical cutting and combination of the both, were compared in this study. As a result, EG-like colonies traditionally disassociated with collagenase IV could be subcultured for up to 4 passages. And the mechanically disaggregated EG-like colonies were successfully maintained 9–12 passages with or without enzymatic treatment. The pluripotency of the EG-like colonies was identified by their specific marker staining, spontaneous differentiation and embryoid bodies (EBs) formation in vitro. Most goat EG-like colonies (>80%) were AKP positive and immunocytochemically characterized with positive SSEA-1, Oct-4 and c-kit staining but SSEA-4. Under the condition of delaying passage, goat EG-like cells could differentiate into fibroblast-like, epithelium-like, and neuron-like cells. In addition, EBs could be obtained successfully in routine hanging drop culture. The serum free culture system (feeder layer-based) used in this study was suitable for keeping PGCs and EG-like cells in their undifferentiated condition, but failed to converse them to immortal cells. These results indicated that mechanical cutting is an effective method for passaging goat EG cell colonies. However, the microenvironment of conversing EG cells to immortal cells is still unclear.