Inducing pluripotency in the domestic cat (Felis Catus)

Dutton, L C; Dudhia, J; Guest, D J; Connolly, D J

Abstract

Domestic cats suffer from a range of inherited genetic diseases, many of which display similarities with equivalent human conditions. Developing cellular models for these inherited diseases would enable drug discovery, benefiting feline health and welfare as well as enhancing the potential of cats as relevant animal models for translation to human medicine. Advances in our understanding of these diseases at the cellular level have come from the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs are capable of differentiating into derivatives of all three germ layers, therefore overcoming the limitations of primary differentiated cells and the ethical concerns of using embryonic stem cells. No studies however report the generation of iPSCs from domestic cats (fiPSCs). Feline adipose derived fibroblasts were infected with amphotropic retrovirus containing the coding sequences for human Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, cMyc and Nanog. Isolated iPSC clones were expanded on mouse inactivated embryonic fibroblasts in the presence of feline leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Retroviral delivery of human pluripotent genes gave rise to putative fiPSC colonies within 5-7 days. These iPS-like cells required foetal bovine serum and feline LIF for maintenance. Colonies were domed with refractile edges, similar to mouse iPSCs. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated positive staining for stem cell markers: alkaline phosphatase, Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and SSEA1. Cells were negative for SSEA4. Expression of endogenous feline Nanog was confirmed by qPCR. The cells were able to differentiate in vitro into cells representative of the three germ layers. These results confirm the generation of the first induced pluripotent cells from domestic cats. These cells will provide valuable models to study genetic diseases and explore novel therapeutic strategies.

Citation

Dutton, L. C., Dudhia, J., Guest, D. J., & Connolly, D. J. (2019). Inducing pluripotency in the domestic cat (Felis Catus). Stem Cells and Development, 28(19), 1299-1309. https://doi.org/10.1089/scd.2019.0142

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 7, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 5, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 10, 2020
• Journal: STEM CELLS AND DEVELOPMENT
• Print ISSN: 1547-3287
• Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 19
• Pages: 1299-1309
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/scd.2019.0142
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1380585