Maintenance and differentiation in culture of pluripotential embryonic cell lines from pig blastocysts

Cell lines were established from explanted blastocysts of domestic pigs; the cells could be maintained indefinitely when grown on mouse fibroblast feeder cell layers. They differentiate spontaneously at high densities, or when allowed to form aggregates when cultured on a non-adhesive substratum. Their appearance and differentiative behaviour resembles that of mouse embryonic stem cell lines. We are currently attempting to establish whether these cultures represent primary ectodermal lineages which would be of particular relevance to developmental and transgenic studies.