Beyond marker expression: An ESC-informed framework for engineering and validating chicken induced pluripotent stem cells
- 1Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding Reproduction and Molecular Design for Jiangsu Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China
- 2College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China
- 3Department of Animal & Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
Abstract
The chicken induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are still plagued by limitations such as low reprogramming efficiency, instability, and a lack of demonstrated germline competence, which are in part attributed to the absence of a precisely defined biological pluripotency reference. In this review, we propose an ESC-informed approach that positions a molecularly and functionally defined chicken embryonic stem cell (cESC) reference state as the standard against which chicken iPSC generation is designed and evaluated. Combined transcriptional, epigenetic, and signaling information reveals important pathways that are limiting, e.g., incomplete activation of pluripotency networks, epigenetic resistance, and species-specific signaling constraints, and rational strategies to overcome them. This approach does not emphasize induction of markers but rather state alignment to functional outcomes, with the most rigorous validation being germline contribution and, where demonstrated, transmission to offspring. This ESC-guided framework of interventions, including transcription factor optimization, RNA regulation, chemical modulation, and multi-omics integration, is proposed as a structured, mechanistically grounded strategy to improve the fidelity and reproducibility of reprogramming. This review outlines a standardized, mechanistically defined blueprint for chicken iPSC engineering, which has the potential to further chicken fundamental biology and applications in transgenic poultry production and conservation of avian genetic resources.
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BibTeX
@article{abdullah2026beyond,
title = {{Beyond marker expression: An ESC-informed framework for engineering and validating chicken induced pluripotent stem cells}},
author = {Usama Abdullah and Umar Sajid Kayani and M Khuzema Niaz and Nousheen Zahoor and Jiuzhou Song and Bichun Li and Kai Jin},
journal = {Poultry Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.psj.2026.107971},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107971},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Beyond marker expression: An ESC-informed framework for engineering and validating chicken induced pluripotent stem cells
AU - Usama Abdullah
AU - Umar Sajid Kayani
AU - M Khuzema Niaz
AU - Nousheen Zahoor
AU - Jiuzhou Song
AU - Bichun Li
AU - Kai Jin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
JO - Poultry Science
DO - 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107971
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107971
AB - The chicken induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are still plagued by limitations such as low reprogramming efficiency, instability, and a lack of demonstrated germline competence, which are in part attributed to the absence of a precisely defined biological pluripotency reference. In this review, we propose an ESC-informed approach that positions a molecularly and functionally defined chicken embryonic stem cell (cESC) reference state as the standard against which chicken iPSC generation is designed and evaluated. Combined transcriptional, epigenetic, and signaling information reveals important pathways that are limiting, e.g., incomplete activation of pluripotency networks, epigenetic resistance, and species-specific signaling constraints, and rational strategies to overcome them. This approach does not emphasize induction of markers but rather state alignment to functional outcomes, with the most rigorous validation being germline contribution and, where demonstrated, transmission to offspring. This ESC-guided framework of interventions, including transcription factor optimization, RNA regulation, chemical modulation, and multi-omics integration, is proposed as a structured, mechanistically grounded strategy to improve the fidelity and reproducibility of reprogramming. This review outlines a standardized, mechanistically defined blueprint for chicken iPSC engineering, which has the potential to further chicken fundamental biology and applications in transgenic poultry production and conservation of avian genetic resources.
SN - 0032-5791
SN - 1525-3171
ER -