An investigation of the cell stemness of the human ovarian derived epithelial-like cells

Background: This is an old dogma that mammals are born with a fixed number of primordial follicles, each of which encloses an oocyte arrested at the diplotene step of meiotic prophase, and the primordial follicle pool cannot be replenished after birth. Johnson et al (2004) have shown that juvenile and adult mouse ovaries possess mitotically active germ cells and have an ability to produce new oocytes and follicles from germ line stem cells (GSCs) present in the ovarian surface epithelium after their destruction that can be fertilized to produce viable offspring.Objective: Here, the stemness of the epithelial-like cells derived from human ovaries was assessed.Materials and Methods: Following fully consent approval small samples were collected by gently scraping of human ovaries. Samples transferred to the lab and human epithelial-like cells were isolated and cultured after rinsing and centrifugation. While initial colonies were formed and cells started to expand their gene expression profile was investigated using PCR for OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, SOX17, DAZL, VASA, SCP3, GDF9, and FSHR. Moreover, IF was applied for SSEA4, C-KIT, VASA, FIBRONECTIN and VIMENTIN.Results: Epithelial-like cells were proliferated while showing colony formation patterns in the culture. Cells from the initial cultures (day4-5) only expressed VASA by PCR. IF data revealed the expression of SSEA4 (stem cell marker) and VASA (germ cell marker) by some populations of the cells.Conclusion: Small numbers of the cells from the initial cultures of the epithelial-like cells from human ovaries expressed VASA and SSEA4 which indicates there might be some cells with germ cell origin and stem cell features. However, further investigations are required with longer cultures.

کلیدواژه ها:

Epithelial-like cells ، Ovarian stem cells ، Germ-line stem cells ، Stemness