Organoids containing neural-like cells derived from chicken iPSCs respond to poly:IC through the RLR family

by Masafumi Katayama, Manabu Onuma, Noriko Kato, Nobuyoshi Nakajima, Tomokazu Fukuda

There is still much room for development in pluripotent stem cell research on avian species compared to human stem cell studies. Neural cells are useful for the evaluation of risk assessment of infectious diseases since several avian species die of encephalitis derived from infectious diseases. In this study, we attempted to develop induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) technology for avian species by forming organoids containing neural-like cells. In our previous study, we established two types iPSCs from chicken somatic cells, the first is iPSCs with PB-R6F reprogramming vector and the second is iPSCs with PB-TAD-7F reprogramming vector. In this study, we first compared the nature of these two cell types using RNA-seq analysis. The total gene expression of iPSCs with PB-TAD-7F was closer to that of chicken ESCs than that of iPSCs with PB-R6F; therefore, we used iPSCs with PB-TAD-7F to form organoids containing neural-like cells. We successfully established organoids containing neural-like cells from iPSCs using PB-TAD-7F. Furthermore, our organoids responded to poly:IC through the RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) family. In this study, we developed iPSCs technology for avian species via organoid formation. In the future, organoids containing neural-like cells from avian iPSCs can develop as a new evaluation tool for infectious disease risk in avian species, including endangered avian species.