title: Birth of parthenote mice directly from parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells.
abstract: Mammalian parthenogenetic embryos are not viable and die because of defects in placental development and genomic imprinting. Parthenogenetic ESCs (pESCs) derived from parthenogenetic embryos might advance regenerative medicine by avoiding immuno-rejection. However, previous reports suggest that pESCs may fail to differentiate and contribute to some organs in chimeras, including muscle and pancreas, and it remains unclear whether pESCs themselves can form all tissue types in the body. We found that derivation of pESCs is more efficient than of ESCs derived from fertilized embryos, in association with reduced mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling in parthenogenetic embryos and their inner cell mass outgrowth. Furthermore, in vitro culture modifies the expression of imprinted genes in pESCs, and these cells, being functionally indistinguishable from fertilized embryo-derived ESCs, can contribute to all organs in chimeras. Even more surprisingly, our study shows that live parthenote pups were produced from pESCs through tetraploid embryo complementation, which contributes to placenta development. This is the first demonstration that pESCs are capable of full-term development and can differentiate into all cell types and functional organs in the body.
authors: School of Life Science, Sun Yet-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Zhisheng
authors: Z
authors: Chen
authors: Zhong
authors: Z
authors: Liu
authors: Junjiu
authors: J
authors: Huang
authors: Tomokazu
authors: T
authors: Amano
authors: Chao
authors: C
authors: Li
authors: Shanbo
authors: S
authors: Cao
authors: Chao
authors: C
authors: Wu
authors: Bodu
authors: B
authors: Liu
authors: Lingjun
authors: L
authors: Zhou
authors: Mark G
authors: MG
authors: Carter
authors: David L
authors: DL
authors: Keefe
authors: Xiangzhong
authors: X
authors: Yang
authors: Lin
authors: L
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018392:Genomic Imprinting / Q000235:genetics; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011247:Pregnancy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology