Glowing biosensor tracks cell division in chickens

Scientists have developed a system to visualise how cells grow and divide in chickens.  

The system uses fluorescent proteins that make cells glow in different colours as they move through the different stages of the cell cycle.  

This allows researchers to observe cell division and growth in live cells and tissues of developing embryos and is the first time this has been achieved in an avian species. This system will support research into understanding vertebrate development, disease and infection response. 

The research team developed a new version of an established technology, known as Fucci (Fluorescent ubiquitination cell cycle indicator), which enables visualisation of glowing markers to indicate various cell cycle states.  

These were introduced into chicken germ cells, which were transplanted into surrogate host embryos. Once hatched, the resulting males were used to generate embryos carrying the fluorescent cell cycle reporter system. 

In these embryos, the brightly glowing proteins accumulate and degrade during different stages of the cell cycle, enabling researchers to visualise cells and tissues throughout their development. 

Using this technology, the team was able to monitor cell proliferation across a range of developing tissues, analyse migrating cells, and undertake live imaging of embryos during the earliest stages of embryonic development.  

This new transgenic model, named FuChi, or Fucci Chicken, offers a sophisticated resource to study cell cycle changes in developing embryos, during organ growth, and in response to disease and infection.  

The study, published in PLOS Biology, was carried out in collaboration with researchers from Lancaster University, the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan, and the Universities of Dundee and Cambridge. It was supported by the National Avian Research Facility at the University of Edinburgh.