2. Academic Validation
  3. Chicken Primordial Germ Cells Do Not Proliferate in Insulin-Lacking Media

Chicken Primordial Germ Cells Do Not Proliferate in Insulin-Lacking Media

  • Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Mar 28;26(7):3122. doi: 10.3390/ijms26073122.
Xin Liu 1 2,  Jun Wu 1 2,  Yixiu Peng 1 2,  Hongwu Qian 1 2,  Xiaoqian Lv 1 2,  Fan Li 1 2,  Kai Jin 1 2,  Yingjie Niu 1 2,  Jiuzhou Song 3,  Wei Han 4,  Guohong Chen 1 2,  Bichun Li 1 2 5,  Qisheng Zuo 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Molecular Design of Jiangsu Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
  • 2 Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
  • 3 Animal & Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742, USA.
  • 4 Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Poultry Institute of Jiangsu, Yangzhou 225003, China.
  • 5 College of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China.
PMID: 40243906 DOI: 10.3390/ijms26073122
Abstract

Insulin is an important component of stem cell cultures; however, its role in the proliferation of avian primordial germ cells (PGCs) is unknown. The proliferation of PGCs in cultures varies and the growth factors and signaling pathways necessary to induce the proliferation of PGCs in chickens are unknown. Therefore, we conducted the present study to investigate the effect of Insulin on the survival and proliferation of PGCs. In this study, we observed that under this culture system, PGCs proliferate in the presence of Insulin, but do not proliferate in the absence of Insulin. Furthermore, in insulin-lacking media, the expression of pluripotency genes, including LIN28, NANOG, POUV, and SOX2, was markedly decreased. Similarly, the expression of cell adhesion proteins ZO-1, Occludin, and JAM-A was significantly reduced. Elevated levels of ROS, GSSG, and MDA reduced the redox capacity of the cells and induced Apoptosis. Subsequent transcriptome analyses revealed that Insulin is one of the key factors in the proliferation of chicken PGCs through the regulation of downstream genes by PI3K/Akt, ECM-receptor interaction, Wnt, and P53 signaling, and that these downstream genes may be important for PGCs' proliferation and survival.

Keywords

RNA-seq; insulin; primordial germ cells; proliferation.

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