Characterization of teratogenic potential and gene expression in canine and feline amniotic membrane- derived stem cells

Abstract

The biosafety of innovative procedures that utilize stem cells in regenerative medicine has been addressed in several studies. Previous work has showed no tumour forma- tion following the use of feline and human amniotic membrane-­derived stem cells (AMSCs). In contrast, tumour formation was observed when canine AMSCs were uti- lized. These findings suggested that feline and human, but not canine, AMSCs are suitable for cell transplantation trials. This study aimed to further evaluate the feasibil- ity of utilizing canine AMSCs for transplantation purposes as well as for felines. We tested teratoma formation following cell injection into BALB/c nude mice and then assessed expression of haematopoietic, mesenchymal, tumorigenic, pluripotency and cellular regulation markers using flow cytometry and qPCR. The use of canine AMSCs did not result in macroscopic tumour formation as determined 60 days after transplan- tation. The immunophenotypic characterization by flow cytometry revealed expres- sion of mesenchymal markers (CD73 and CD90) and expression of the pluripotent marker OCT4 and SOX2. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed that there were no dif- ferences in the patterns of gene expression (CD34, CD73, OCT4, CD30 and P53) between canine and feline AMSCs, with the exception of the expression of SOX2 and CD90