Establishment and characterization of novel porcine embryonic stem cell lines expressing hrGFP

The purpose of this study was to establish transgenic porcine embryonic stem (pES) cell lines that can stably express report gene. Established pES cell line at passage 44 was transfected with pAAV-hrGFP Control Plasmid by electroporation-mediated, viral vector-mediated, and liposome-mediated strategies. Although there were several pES colonies expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) obtained from the retrovirus-mediated and liposome-mediated transfection methods, no stable GFP-expressing pES cell line was then derived. A total of 28 GFP-expressing pES cell colonies were obtained following electroporation with two DC pulses of 150 V/cm for 10 msec and three GFP-expressing pES (pES/GFP(+)) cell lines were established. These pES/GFP(+) cell lines stably expressed exogenous GFP and continuously proliferated in vitro for more than 90 passages in 20 months. They maintained normal karyotype of 36 + XX and typical characteristics of pluripotent stem cells, including expression of pluripotent markers Oct-4, AP, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60, and TRA-1-81, formation of embryoid bodies under suspension culture. They were able to differentiate in vitro into neural and cardiomyocytic lineage, respectively, under suitable induction. To our knowledge, there has been no report of establishing GFP-expressing pES cell lines. These novel pES/GFP(+) cell lines established in this study might serve as a nonrodent model and would benefit to the studies involving ES cell transplantation, cell replacement therapy, and tissue regeneration due to their traceable capacity.