Volume 2 • Issue 6 • 1000126 J Cytol Histol ISSN: 2157-7099 JCH, an open access journal Research Article Open Access Bahadorani et al., J Cytol Histol 2011, 2:6 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7099.1000126 Research Article Open Access Cytology & Histology Comparative Immunohistochemical Analysis of VASA, PLZF and THY1 in Goats and Sheep Suggests that these Markers are also Conserved in these Species Bahadorani M 1 , Hosseini SM 2 , Abedi P 2 , Hajian M 2 , Afrough M 2 , Azhdari Tafti Z 3 , Azizi H 3 , Hosseini SE 1 , Vahdati A 1 , Baharvand H 3 and Nasr- Esfahani MH 2,4 * 1 Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran 2 Department of Reproduction and Development, Reproductive Biomedicine Center, Royan Institute for Animal Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran 3 Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Sciences Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Embryology, Reproductive Biomedicine Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran *Corresponding author: Mohammad H Nasr-Esfahani, Department of Reproduction and Development, Royan Institute for Animal Biotechnology, ACECR, Esfahan, Iran, Tel: (+) 98311 2612900-3; Fax: (+) 98311 2605525; E-mail: mh.nasr-esfahani@royaninstitute.org Received August 25, 2011; Accepted October 10, 2011; Published October 14, 2011 Citation: Bahadorani M, Hosseini SM, Abedi P, Hajian M, Afrough M, et al. (2011) Comparative Immunohistochemical Analysis of VASA, PLZF and THY1 in Goats and Sheep Suggests that these Markers are also Conserved in these Species. J Cytol Histol 2:126. doi:10.4172/2157-7099.1000126 Copyright: © 2011 Bahadorani M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Spermatogenesis is supported by a certain type of stem cell known as spermatogonial stem cell (SSC), which transforms information to the next generation. There is currently a wide acceptance of the great potential applications of SSCs for infertility treatment and production of transgenic farm animals. However, rodents are the only thoroughly studied mammals with respect to SSCs due to presence of speciic antibodies for SSC markers such as PLZF and THY1 or germ cell marker such as VASA. However, limited information is available about the speciic markers of SSCs in farm animals. Moreover, while it is generally believed that stem cell markers are mainly conserved among mammalian species, it is not clear if SSC markers have also remained conserved during species evolution. Through comparative immunohistochemical analysis of testis tissue of sheep, and goats with mice, rats and cattle, for which the original antibodies were rose, this study suggests that, despite the long evolutionary distance which exists between rodents and farm animals, germ cells and SSC markers may have remained conserved between these species. In addition, the results of this study suggest that these antibodies can be used to isolate, propagate and further explore SSCs in goat or sheep and possibly other species. Keywords: Spermatogonial stem cell; Immunohistochemistry; Rodent; Farm animals Introduction Like other organs in the body, testes have tissue-speciic stem cells known as spermatogonial (SSCs) or germ line stem cells (GSCs) [1]. Developmentally, SSCs originate from gonocytes in the prenatal testis, which in turn originate from primordial germ cells (PGCs) existing in the fetal genital ridge. Postnatally, gonocytes convert to undiferentiated A-spermatogonia at a species-speciic time window (i.e. around day 6 in mice and day 180 in cattle) [2]. he undiferentiated A-spermatogonia include As (single), Apr (paired), and Aal (aligned) [3]. hen, through a highly orchestrated series of cell divisions, diferent classes of cells develop from Aal, that broadly divide into diferentiating spermatogonia (A1, A2, A3, A4, intermediate, and B) and sperm (spermatocyte, spermatid, and spermatozoid) [4]. Daily, millions of spermatozoids are produced in an adult testis through the balance which exists between SSC self-renewal and diferentiation [5,6]. Great potential applications have been envisaged for SSCs in medicine and agriculture [7]. Under controlled in-vitro conditions, SSCs can attain embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like properties without the need for speciic manipulations for pluripotency acquisition. his great lexibility of SSCs subverts the problems associated with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) [7,8]. Moreover, it has been suggested that the state of naive pluripotency of mouse ES cells may be achieved in-vitro by the induction of PGCs [9]. However, considering the minute innate number of SSCs in the testis, development of eicient methods for characterization, isolation, enrichment and culture/expansion is imperative [10,11]. he mouse is the most thoroughly studied animal with respect to SSCs, and undoubtedly, this great progress is due to the establishment of several SSC-speciic markers that facilitate the isolation, puriication, manipulation and transplantation of SSCs in mice. However, progress with other animals has been modest, mainly due to limited information about speciic SSC markers [12]. One approach to this limitation is to investigate the potential application of criteria, tools, and approaches that have been established for rodents over the past two decades. Such studies also provide an important platform for investigating the evolutionary conservation of SSC phenotypes and functions across diferent species. To achieve this end, comparative immunohistochemical analysis has been suggested. Indeed, Hermann et al. (2007) observed a similar pattern of immunoreactivity with the stem/progenitor marker PLZF (Promyelocytic leukaemia zinc inger) in humans, monkeys and rodents [6]. Considering the limited information available about SSC markers in farm animals, particularly sheep and goats, this study was carried out to investigate whether speciic germ cell markers such as VASA, PLZF and THY1 are conserved in these species. herefore,