Induction of E-cadherin+ human amniotic fluid cell differentiation into oocyte-like cells via culture in medium supplemented with follicular fluid
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- Published online on: April 29, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2014.2199
- Pages: 21-28
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Copyright: © Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY_NC 3.0].
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Abstract
Pluripotent human amniotic fluid cells (HuAFCs) can differentiate into various types of somatic cell in vitro. However, their differentiation into oocyte-like cells has never been described to the best of our knowledge. In the present study, differentiation of E-cadherin+ and E-cadherin- HuAFC sub-populations into oocyte-like cells was induced via culture in medium containing bovine follicular fluid and β-mercaptoethanol. The E-cadherin+ HuAFCs expressed DAZL highly. Post-induction, cells with an oocyte-like phenotype were found among the E-cadherin+ HuAFCs, expressing markers specific to germ cells and oocytes (VASA, ZP3 and GDF9) and meiosis (DMC1 and SCP3). When specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to suppress E-cadherin in the E-cadherin+ HuAFCs, the levels of DAZL expression were reduced. Post-induction, the morphology of the siRNA‑E‑cadherin HuAFCs was poorer and the expression levels of germ cell-specific markers were lower compared with those of the siRNA-mock HuAFCs. Therefore, E-cadherin+ HuAFCs could be more easily induced to differentiate into oocyte-like cells by bovine follicular fluid and β-mercaptoethanol. In addition, the E-cadherin+ HuAFCs exhibited potential characteristics of DAZL protein expression, and thus it was conjectured that bovine follicular fluid acts on DAZL protein and promotes E-cadherin+ HuAFC differentiation into oocyte-like cells.
