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  2. Melatonin promotes the proliferation of primordial germ cell-like cells derived from porcine skin-derived stem cells: A mechanistic analysis

Melatonin promotes the proliferation of primordial germ cell-like cells derived from porcine skin-derived stem cells: A mechanistic analysis

  • J Pineal Res. 2022 Sep 15;e12833. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12833.
Wen-Xiang Liu 1 2 Shao-Jing Tan 1 Yu-Feng Wang 1 3 Fa-Li Zhang 1 Yu-Qing Feng 4 Wei Ge 1 Paul W Dyce 5 Russel J Reiter 6 Wei Shen 1 Shun-Feng Cheng 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 College of Life Sciences, Institute of Reproductive Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation & Breeding of Grassland Livestock, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China.
  • 3 Department of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
  • 4 School Hospital, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China.
  • 5 Department of Animal Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.
  • 6 Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Abstract

In vitro differentiation of stem cells into functional gametes remains of great interest in the biomedical field. Skin-derived stem cells (SDSCs) are an adult stem cells that provides a wide range of clinical applications without inherent ethical restrictions. In this paper, porcine SDSCs were successfully differentiated into primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs) in conditioned media. The PGCLCs were characterized in terms of cell morphology, marker gene expression, and epigenetic properties. Furthermore, we also found that 25 μM melatonin (MLT) significantly increased the proliferation of the SDSC-derived PGCLCs while acting through the MLT receptor type 1 (MT1). RNA-seq results found the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway was more active when PGCLCs were cultured with MLT. Moreover, the effect of MLT was attenuated by the use of S26131 (MT1 Antagonist), crenolanib (platelet-derived growth factor receptor inhibitor), U0126 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibitor), or CCG-1423 (serum response factor transcription inhibitor), suggesting that MLT promotes the proliferation processes through the MAPK pathway. Taken together, this study highlights the role of MLT in promoting PGCLCs proliferation. Importantly, this study provides a suitable in vitro model for use in translational studies and could help to answer numerous remaining questions related to germ cell physiology.

Keywords

MAPK signaling pathway; melatonin; platelet-derived growth factor; primordial germ cell-like cells; proliferation; serum response factor; skin-derived stem cells.

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