Neuro-Muscular Differentiation of Adult Porcine Skin Derived Stem Cell-Like Cells

Abstract

Adult porcine skin harbors a population of stem cell-like cells (pSSCs) that can be isolated via enzymatic digestion. These pSSCs show characteristic features of MSCs originated in other tissues and express the embryonic stem cell marker Oct3/4, Sox2, and Stat3. Furthermore, pSSCs have the potential to differentiate into cells from two different germ lines, the ectoderm (neurons, astrocytes) and the mesoderm (smooth muscle cells, adipocytes).