Endothelial differentiation of canine yolk sac cells transduced with VEGF

•We established a primary cell culture from yolk sac cells derived from dog fetuses.•The cells from yolk sac are easy to isolate, grow and transduce.•Yolk sac cells showed mesenchymal and endothelial marker expression.•These cells present potential to differentiate in another cell lines.

Yolk sac (YS) is the site of blood-cell production where primitive erythroid cells originate and complete their maturation. YS is a source of precursor cells, however its differentiation potential and suitability for cell therapies are not well described. YS can be a cell source when neovascularization is required. This study characterized YS canine cells, transduced with VEGF, to analyze then using Immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry and real time PCR. Immunocytochemistry: positive expression for CD105, PCNA, VEGF and vWF, flow cytometry for CD105, VEGF, PCNA, OCT-4 and RT-qPCR for VEGF, CD31, CD105, PCNA and FLT - 1, indicating that these cells have characteristics of endothelial progenitor and pluripotency. After transduction,the YS cells changed their morphology and showed endothelial-like cells. We suggest, because of their cell surface phenotype as well as their capacity to differentiate into endothelial-like cells, that canine YS represents a source of cells for neovascularization therapies.