Enhanced Cultivation of Chicken Primordial Germ Cells: A Comparison of Enriched and Defined Media

Abstract

Abstract Background The cultivation and expansion of chicken primordial germ cells (cPGCs) is of critical importance for both biotechnological applications and the management of poultry genetic biodiversity. The feeder-free culture system has become the most popular approach for the cultivation and expansion of chicken primordial germ cells. However, despite some success in the cultivation of PGCs, the reproducibility of culture conditions across different laboratories remains a challenge. This study aimed to compare two defined and enriched media for the growth of cPGCs originating from the Hubbard JA57 broiler.Methods To this end, cPGCs were isolated from the embryonic blood of 14–16 Hamburger–Hamilton (HH) stages and cultured at various time points. The Growth properties and characteristics of these cells were evaluated in two different culture conditions and their migratory properties were assessed after genetic engineering and injection into the vasculature of 2.5-day-old chicken embryos.Results The main finding of this study was that the use of an enriched medium resulted in improved growth properties of PGCs compared to a defined medium.Conclusions The ability to cultivate and expand cPGCs is crucial for various key approaches and a robust supportive medium can help to accelerate the generation of both genetically engineered birds in avain transgenesis approach and breeds of interest from local or commercial origins. Therefore, these results highlight the importance of choosing an appropriate culture medium for cPGC growth and expansion.