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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Genome Ed.
Sec. Genome Editing in Animals
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgeed.2024.1512108
This article is part of the Research Topic Genome Editing in Poultry and Livestock View all 3 articles

Hyperthermia suppresses the biological characteristics and migration of chicken primordial germ cells

Provisionally accepted
Yuzhou Gu Yuzhou Gu Kexin Wu Kexin Wu Bowen Niu Bowen Niu Zhiting Wang Zhiting Wang Yuchen Jie Yuchen Jie Zixuan Fan Zixuan Fan Li Junying Li Junying Congjiao Sun Congjiao Sun Li-Wa Shao Li-Wa Shao *
  • China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Primordial germ cells (PGCs) play a crucial role in transmitting genetic information to the next generation. In chickens, genetically edited PGCs can be propagated in vitro and subsequently transplanted into recipient embryos to produce offspring with desired genetic traits. However, during early embryogenesis, the effects of external conditions on PGC migration through the vascular system to the gonads have yet to be explored, which may affect the efficiency of preparing geneedited chickens. In this study, we investigated the effects of hyperthermia on the biological characteristics and migration of chicken PGCs. A gonad-derived PGC line of White Leghorn (WLH) chicken was established and verified through PAS staining and immunofluorescence of PGC-specific proteins. To visually observe PGC migration in vivo, GFP-positive PGCs were prepared and locations of chimeras were validated. Cell viability, glycogen granule contents, and mRNA expression levels of pluripotency markers (NANOG and POUV), germ cell-specific markers (DAZL and CVH), and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) were reduced in PGCs cultured under high temperatures (43°C for 12, 24, and 48 h). After the heat treatment of donor PGCs (43°C ) or recipient embryos (39.5°C ), GFP-positive PGCs in gonads were rarely observed. Taken together, our results underscore the negative effects of hyperthermia on the biological characteristics and migration of chicken PGCs, which provides valuable insights for the implementation of PGC-based gene editing techniques in chickens.

    Keywords: Gene-edited chicken, primordial germ cell, hyperthermia, Cell biological characteristics, Migration

    Received: 16 Oct 2024; Accepted: 19 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gu, Wu, Niu, Wang, Jie, Fan, Junying, Sun and Shao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Li-Wa Shao, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.