The domesticated pig has emerged as an important tool for development of surgical techniques, advancement of xenotransplantation, creation of important disease models, and preclinical testing of novel cell therapies. However, germ line-competent pluripotent porcine stem cells have not yet been derived. This has been a major obstacle to genetic modification of pigs. The transcription factor Oct4 is essential for the maintenance of pluripotency and for reprogramming somatic cells to a pluripotent state. Here, we report the production of transgenic pigs carrying an 18 kb genomic sequence of the murine Oct4 gene fused to the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) cDNA (OG2 construct) to allow identification of pluripotent cells by monitoring Oct4 expression by EGFP fluorescence. Eleven viable transgenic piglets were produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Expression of the EGFP reporter construct was confined to germ line cells, the inner cell mass and trophectoderm of blastocysts, and testicular germ cells. Reprogramming of fibroblasts from these animals by fusion with pluripotent murine embryonic stem cells or viral transduction with human OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC cDNAs resulted in Oct4-EGFP reactivation. The OG2 pigs have thus proved useful for monitoring reprogramming and the induction and maintenance of pluripotency in porcine cells. In conclusion, the OG2 transgenic pigs are a new large animal model for studying the derivation and maintenance of pluripotent cells, and will be valuable for the development of cell therapy.

Activin A, a multifunctional cytokine, plays an important role in hepatocyte growth suppression and is involved in liver size control. The present study was aimed to determine the cell location of activin A in the normal rat liver microenvironment and the contribution of activin A signaling to the hepatocyte phenotype to obtain insight into molecular mechanisms. Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analyses identified hepatocytes as the major activin A‐positive cell population in normal liver and identified mast cells as an additional activin A source. To investigate paracrine and autocrine activin A‐stimulated effects, hepatocytes were cocultured with engineered activin A‐secreting cell lines (RF1, TL8) or transduced with an adeno‐associated virus vector encoding activin βA, which led to strikingly altered expression of cell cycle‐related genes (Ki‐67, E2F transcription factor 1 [E2F1], minichromosome maintenance complex component 2 [Mcm2], forkhead box M1 [FoxM1]) and senescence‐related genes (cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor 2B [p15INK4b/CDKN2B], differentiated embryo‐chondrocyte expressed gene 1 [DEC1]) and reduced proliferation and induction of senescence. Microarray analyses identified 453 differentially expressed genes, many of which were not yet recognized as activin A downstream targets (e.g., ADAM metallopeptidase domain 12 [Adam12], semaphorin 7A [Sema7a], LIM and cysteine‐rich domains‐1 [Lmcd1], DAB2, clathrin adaptor protein [Dab2]). Among the main activin A‐mediated molecular/cellular functions are cellular growth/proliferation and movement, molecular transport, and metabolic processes containing highly down‐regulated genes, such as cytochrome P450, subfamily 2, polypeptide 11 (Cyp2C11), sulfotransferase family 1A, member 1 (Sult1a1), glycine‐N‐acyltransferase (Glyat), and bile acid‐CoA:amino acid N‐acyltransferase (Baat). Moreover, Ingenuity Pathway Analyses identified particular gene networks regulated by hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)‐4α and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) as key targets of activin A signaling. Conclusion: Our in vitro models demonstrated that activin A‐stimulated growth inhibition and cellular senescence is mediated through p15INK4b/CDKN2B and is associated with up‐ and down‐regulation of numerous target genes involved in multiple biological processes performed by hepatocytes, suggesting that activin A fulfills a critical role in normal liver function. (Hepatology Communications 2017;1:852‐870)

Recent experiments demonstrated that forced expression of few critical genes drives conversion of a somatic into a pluripotent cell state. These induced pluripotent cells (iPS) were first generated from murine fibroblasts by Shinya Yamanaka's laboratory in 2006. By using retroviral vectors to express combinations of stemness genes, they identified Oct4, Sox2, Krueppel-like factor 4 and c-Myc as essential factors for reprogramming of somatic cells. Subsequent experiments applied this technology to human and rat fibroblasts, as well as other cell types and several groups showed that iPS can be generated by an even smaller number of transcription factors. The efficiency of conversion and maintenance of a pluripotent state can be supported by small molecules, such as valproic acid and specific pharmacological inhibitors. This technology is a milestone for a basic understanding of cell potency, cell fate and pathogenesis, as well as for development of cell therapies and potential applications in animal breeding.