Factors supporting long-term culture of bovine male germ cells

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are unipotent in nature, but mouse SSCs acquire pluripotency under the appropriate culture conditions. Although culture systems are available for rodent and human germ-cell lines, no proven culture system is yet available for livestock species. Here, we examined growth factors, matrix substrates and serum-free supplements to develop a defined system for culturing primitive germ cells (gonocytes) from neonatal bovine testis. Poly-L-lysine was a suitable substrate for selective inhibition of the growth of somatic cells and made it possible to maintain a higher gonocyte:somatic cell ratio than those maintained with gelatin, collagen or Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) substrates. Among the serum-free supplements tested in our culture medium, knockout serum replacement (KSR) supported the proliferation and survival of gonocytes better than the supplements B-27 and StemPro-SFM after sequential passages of colonies. Under our optimised culture conditions consisting of 15% KSR supplement on poly-L-lysine-coated dishes, the stem-cell and germ-cell potentials of the cultured gonocytes were maintained with normal karyotype for more than 2 months (over 13 passages). The proposed culture system, which can maintain a population of proliferating bovine germ stem cells, could be useful for studying SSC biology and germline modifications in livestock animals.