title: Intercellular bridges are essential for human parthenogenetic cell survival.
abstract: Parthenogenetic cells, obtained from in vitro activated mammalian oocytes, display multipolar spindles, chromosome malsegregation and a high incidence of aneuploidy, probably due to the lack of paternal contribution. Despite this, parthenogenetic cells do not show high rates of apoptosis and are able to proliferate in a way comparable to their biparental counterpart. We hypothesize that a series of adaptive mechanisms are present in parthenogenetic cells, allowing a continuous proliferation and ordinate cell differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Here we identify the presence of intercellular bridges that contribute to the establishment of a wide communication network among human parthenogenetic cells, providing a mutual exchange of missing products. Silencing of two molecules essential for intercellular bridge formation and maintenance demonstrates the key function played by these cytoplasmic passageways that ensure normal cell functions and survival, alleviating the unbalance in cellular component composition.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Embryology, UniStem, Center For Stem Cell Research, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pennarossa
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Embryology, UniStem, Center For Stem Cell Research, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maffei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tettamanti
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical and Morphological Science, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Terenzio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Congiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Magda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: deEguileor
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Embryology, UniStem, Center For Stem Cell Research, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gandolfi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Embryology, UniStem, Center For Stem Cell Research, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: tiziana.brevini@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Tiziana A L
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Brevini
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Aneuploidy; Intercellular bridges; Parthenogenetic cells; siRNA