Medaka fish stem cells and their applications.
Stem cells are present in developing embryos and adult tissues of multicellular organisms. Owing to their unique features, stem cells provide excellent opportunities for experimental analyses of basic developmental processes such as pluripotency control and cell fate decision and for regenerative medicine by stem cell-based therapy. Stem cell cultures have been best studied in 3 vertebrate organisms. These are the mouse, human and a small laboratory fish called medaka. Specifically, medaka has given rise to the first embryonic stem (ES) cells besides the mouse, the first adult testis-derived male stem cells spermatogonia capable of test-tube sperm production, and most recently, even haploid ES cells capable of producing Holly, a semi-cloned fertile female medaka from a mosaic oocyte created by microinjecting a haploid ES cell nucleus directly into a normal oocyte. These breakthroughs make medaka a favoring vertebrate model for stem cell research, the topic of this review.
Yi
MeiSheng
M
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore, 119260, Singapore.
Hong
Ni
N
Li
ZhenDong
Z
Yan
Yan
Y
Wang
DanKe
D
Zhao
HaoBin
H
Hong
YunHan
Y
D053687:Adult Stem Cells; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019976:Cloning, Organism; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D023421:Models, Animal; D009990:Oryzias / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*