Giant panda skin cells transformed into stem cells to help ensure their survival

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A team of biologists in China has reprogrammed skin cells from giant pandas into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), opening the door to creating primordial germ cells that could serve as precursors to sperm and egg cells.

In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group introduced a specific microRNA cluster to panda fibroblasts to generate the iPSCs.

Over the past several years, stem cell biologists have been refining the process involved in converting cells known as fibroblasts into iPSCs as a prime part of regenerative medicine research. Such cells can be used to grow different kinds of cells, including those that can mature into organs and egg cells.

In recent years, conservationists have come to see the technology as a potential means to save endangered animals. To that end, iPSCs have been created for a rare zebra, the Tasmanian devil and the northern white rhino.

One thing that researchers on such projects have learned along the way is that the process of transforming fibroblasts to iPSCs is different for each species, which means that a new process is required to create iPSCs for each new animal. In this new effort, the research team has created a process for the giant panda.

The work started back in 2019, with the goal of creating iPSCs that could be used as precursors to male and female reproductive cells, helping to ensure the continued propagation of giant pandas. That effort led to the use of fibroblast skin cells to generate the desired iPSCs.

To get the fibroblasts to transform into iPSCs, the group introduced a specific type of microRNA cluster under special growing conditions that included molecules with just the right transcription factors for pandas.

Once they found a process that worked, the team refined it to make it more efficient. They have been testing their iPSCs to ensure that they can divide and form germ layers in usable ways—and from there, to grow into desired types of cells.

More information: Yuliang Liu et al, Generation and characterization of giant panda induced pluripotent stem cells, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn7724

Journal information: Science Advances

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