Establishment of sika deer induced pluripotent stem cells†

The sika deer (Cervus nippon) is a large ruminant species of significant commercial value, with antlers used in traditional medicine and meat prized for its nutritional and culinary qualities. In this study, we cultured fibroblasts (SDFs) from sika deer fetal and then reprogrammed them into sika deer induced pluripotent stem cells (SD-iPSCs) using nine exogenous factors (OCT4, SOX2, C-MYC, KLF4, NANOG, LIN28, RARG, LRH1, and LARGE T). The resulting SD-iPSCs exhibited to expressed key pluripotent genes, maintained genomic stability, and differentiated into the three germ layers in teratoma assays. Notably, we found that supplementing the mTeSR1 basal medium with XAV939, a Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibitor, supported robust self-renewal and pluripotency maintenance of SD-iPSCs. Furthermore, using a bovine trophoblast stem cell induction protocol, we successfully derived CDX2-positive trophoblast-like cells from SD-iPSCs. The establishment of SD-iPSCs not only offers a valuable model for studying mammalian pluripotent stem cells but also provides a versatile platform for biotechnological and translational research.