JAM symposium reveals range of uses for stem cells

By Amy Stewart / ASAS Communications

March 1, 2013 - Recent research shows the crucial role of stem cells in normal growth and development. Animal scientists have discovered that stem cells could heal injuries in livestock and increase animal productivity. In a new paper for the Journal of Animal Science, Sally Johnson, an associate professor in the Animal and Poultry Sciences Department at Virginia Tech, summarizes stem cell research presented at the 2012 Joint Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ.

The first presentation was given by Ronald Allen from the University of Arizona. Allen discussed experiments where scientists injected satellite cells into rat blood and tissue. He explained how some cells migrate through the body to skeletal muscle. The experiments showed that these cells have the capability of moving through muscle to repair tissue.

In the second presentation, Washington State University researcher Jon Oatley outlined the requirements for culturing bovine spermatagonial, or sperm precursor, stem cells. Successful propagation in vitro of these important stem cells requires several different growth factors.

“These results provide a foundation for future work correcting male infertility and propagation of superior genetics in livestock,” wrote Johnson in her summary of the presentation.

The third presentation, by Sarah Reed from the University of Connecticut, showed results of an analysis of cells within umbilical cord blood derived from newborn horse foals. One of the important findings was that umbilical cord blood contains a mixture of stem cells and progenitor cells. These findings are important to equine athletes that experience tendon lesions and are treated with injections of bone marrow- or adipose-derived stem cells.

In the fourth presentation, USDA-ARS researcher Tom Caperna described a line of “immortal” swine cells. This cell line could help researchers better understand how different progenitor cells become different kinds of liver and bile duct cells.

For the last presentation, Anthony Capuco from the USDA-ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center discussed his work with mammary stem cells. Mammary stem cells are normally difficult to find, but Capuco and his colleagues discovered biomarkers unique to mammary stem cells. This discovery could help future researchers simplify their search for these elusive cells.

In her paper, Johnson wrote that the symposium highlighted the similarities and differences of stem cells and progenitor cells in many different species and locations in the body. She added that the research could help direct future stem cell experiments.

The symposium summary is titled “GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM: Participation of adult tissue-restricted stem cells in livestock growth and development.” It can be read in full at journalofanimalscience.org. Publication of these symposium summaries was sponsored by Elanco Animal Health, the Monsanto Co., Pancosma, the Journal of Animal Science and the American Society of Animal Science.