Researchers Generates Monkey Haploid Embryonic Stem Cells

Haploid cells represent an ideal tool for genetic analysis due to the presence of only one set of genetic materials. Recently, Researchers from Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully generated two lines of haploid ESCs from Macaca fascicularis monkey parthenotes (termed as PG-haESCs).

Recent high-profile papers reported the generation of mouse haploid ESCs (haESCs) via parthenogenesis and androgenesis, raising a particular challenging question of whether this technology in mice can be further extended to primates. To generate monkey PG-haESCs, YANG Hui, LIU Zhen, MA Yu and their colleagues, led by Dr. LI Jinsong at Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Dr. SUN Qiang at the Institute of Neuroscience, and Dr. JIN Ying at the Institute of Health Sciences, obtained haploid parthenogenetic blastocysts by chemical activation protocol, in which cumulus-free mature metaphase II (MII) oocytes from Macaca fascicularis monkey were treated sequentially with ionomycin, followed by cycloheximide (CHX). Some of the activated embryos could develop to blastocyst stage, from which haploid ES cells were obtained.

The haploidy could be well maintained in these cells for over 30 passages via regular FACS-enrichment of haploid cells. These PG-haESCs express classical monkey ESC markers and can differentiate into various cell types of all three embryonic layers in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, monkey PG-haESCs are feasible for whole-genome screenings. These results provide the first evidence that normal haploid cells can be generated from large animals such as monkey, and that monkey haploid ESCs can be used as a tool for genetic analyses in non-human primates.

This work entitled “Generation of haploid embryonic stem cells from Macaca fascicularis monkey parthenotes” was published on Cell Res as a Featured Article on July 16^th, 2013. It was supported by the grants from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology, National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shanghai Municipal Commission for Science and Technology.