Spheroids Spontaneously Generated In Vitro from Sheep Ovarian Cortical Cells Contain Integrating Cells That Exhibit Hallmarks of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells.

Cell spheroids are inducible or spontaneously generated cell aggregates produced in vitro that can provide a valuable model for developmental biology, stem cell biology, and cancer therapy research. This investigation aimed to define the cellular identity of spheroids spontaneously generated in vitro from sheep ovarian cortical cells cultured under specific serum-free conditions. Spheroids were characterized during 21 days of culture by morphometric evaluation, detection of alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, gene expression analyses of stemness transcription factors and several lineage markers, immunolocalization analyses, as well as assessment of self-renewal and differentiation potential.