title: Stable embryonic stem cell lines in rabbits: potential small animal models for human research.
abstract: Although embryonic stem (ES) cell lines derived from mice and primates are used extensively, the development of such lines from other mammals is extremely difficult because of their rapid decline in proliferation potential and pluripotency after several passages. This study describes the establishment of rabbit ES cell lines with indefinite proliferation potential. It was found that the feeder cell density determines the fate of rabbit ES cells, and that maximum proliferation potential was obtained when they were cultured on a feeder cell density of one-sixth of the density at confluency. Higher and lower densities of feeder cells induced ES cell differentiation or division arrest. Under optimized conditions, rabbit ES cells were passaged 50 times, after which they still possessed high telomerase activity. This culture system enabled efficient gene transduction and clonal expansion from single cells. During culture, rabbit ES cells exhibited flattened monolayer cell colonies, as reported for monkey and human ES cells, and expressed pluripotency markers. Embryoid bodies and teratomas formed readily in vitro and in vivo respectively. These ES cell lines can be safely cryopreserved for later use. Thus, rabbit ES cells can be added to the list of stable mammalian ES cells, enabling the rabbit to be used as a small animal model for the study of human cell transplantation therapy.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Bioresource Centre, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Tsukuba, Japan. a-honda@rtc.riken.go.jp
authors.forename: Arata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Michiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Kimiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Narumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ogonuki
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimozawa
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hatori
authors.forename: Natsumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Takehide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Kazufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wakisaka
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Kazunari K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sankai
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D017931:DNA Primers