Blastema cells derived from rabbit ear show stem cell characteristics

Abstract

Regeneration is a biological phenomenon, which takes place via two main mechanisms: first, <br><br>dedifferentiation of mature cells followed by their differentiation into functional new cells and second, <br><br>activation of endogenous somatic stem cells for regeneration of damaged or lost tissues. One of the best <br><br>examples of healing process in mammals is the regeneration of damaged pinna in rabbits by blastema tissue. <br><br>The aim of present study was to investigate culture requirements, proliferative properties and expression of <br><br>some stemness factors in cells derived from regenerating blastema tissue obtained from rabbit pinna in vitro . <br><br>The regenerating tissues were obtained from male New Zealand white rabbits by double punching of the pinna <br><br>and cell culture conditions were set to derive and enrich the self renewing cells for further characterisation. The <br><br>cells were subjected to survival and growth examinations in vitro , and expression of several stemness factors <br><br>was studied in these cells using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results revealed <br><br>that the derived cells are rather immortal, as they have been growing for more than 120 passages in culture up <br><br>until this report. Furthermore, RT-PCR and flow cytometry analyses showed that these cells express a number <br><br>of stemness related genes including Oct4 and Sox2 . In conclusion, in this study, stem like cells were derived <br><br>from blastema tissue of rabbit ears for the first time, showing great self renewing capacity, which provides a <br><br>suitable in vitro model for regeneration studies. Moreover, they could be considered as a good source of stem <br><br>like cells for future applications.