诱导多能干细胞建系过程中关键转录因子的作用

通过添加OCT4、SOX2等转录因子,体外诱导细胞重编程获得诱导多能干细胞是近年干细胞领域的一大突破.OCT4、SOX2和NANOG等转录因子在启动细胞重编程、维持诱导多能干细胞多能性和决定其是否走向分化方面起了关键作用.对这些转录因子作用机制的了解,有助于细胞莺编程分子机制的进一步阐明.     

SOX6和SOX9基因转染对人原发性骨关节炎关节软骨间充质祖细胞增殖和成软骨分化的调控作用

目的观察SOX6和SOX9基因转染对原发性OA关节软骨MPCs的促增殖、分化作用,为通过调控关节软骨MPCs以防治原发性OA提供理论依据。方法分别以pAdTrack-CMV-SOX6、SOX9腺病毒穿梭质粒构建SOX6、SOX9基因,并感染原发性OA关节软骨MPCs,比较基因感染组和未感染组成软骨诱导分化后TB、Ⅱ型胶原以及Ⅱ型胶原mRNA表达的变化。结果SOX6和SOX9能够分别稳定感染OA关节软骨MPCs;经二者分别感染的关节软骨MPCs成软骨诱导分化后,其TB染色、Ⅱ型胶原染色呈强阳性表达,未基因感染细胞为弱阳性着色;SOX6基因感染原发性OA关节软骨MPCs的Ⅱ型胶原mRNA表达量为未基因感染细胞的3.8倍(P0.01),SOX9基因为未感染细胞的5.15倍(P0.01)。结论构建的SOX6、SOX9基因序列与基因库报道序列完全一致;SOX6和SOX9能稳定感染原发性OA关节软骨MPCs,并显著促进感染细胞成软骨分化;提示通过适宜浓度的bFGF、TGF-β1对原发性OA关节软骨MPCs的作用及SOX6和SOX9基因感染,可能具有促进原发性OA关节软骨损伤修复的作用。     

SOX12 Promotes Thyroid Cancer Cell Proliferation and Invasion by Regulating the Expression of POU2F1 and POU3F1

PurposeSOX12 is overexpressed in many cancers, and we aimed to explore the biological function and mechanism of SOX12 in thyroid cancer.Materials and MethodsWe first analyzed the expression of SOX12 in thyroid cancer using data in The Cancer Genome Atlas. Immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR were performed to identify SOX12 expression in thyroid cancer tissue and cells. Thyroid cancer cells were transfected with small interfering RNA targeting SOX12, and cellular functional experiments, including CCK8, wound healing, and Transwell assays, were performed. Protein expression was examined by Western blot analysis. A xenograft model was developed to evaluate the effect of SOX12 on tumor growth in vivo.ResultsSOX12 expression was increased in thyroid cancer tissue and cells. SOX12 promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and accelerated tumor growth in vivo. The expression of PCNA, Cyclin D1, E-cadherin, Snail, MMP-2, and MMP-9 was affected by SOX12 knockdown. Bioinformatic analysis showed that SOX12 could interact with the POU family. SOX12 knockdown inhibited the expression of POU2F1, POU2F2, POU3F1 and POU3F2, and SOX12 expression showed a positive correlation with POU2F1, POU3F1, and POU3F2 expression in clinical data. POU2F1 and POU3F1 were able to reverse the effect of SOX12 knockdown on thyroid cancer cells.ConclusionSOX12 affects the progression of thyroid cancer by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition and interacting with POU2F1 and POU3F1, which may be novel targets for thyroid cancer molecular therapy.     

小鼠iPS细胞体外自发性分化及神经定向分化中基因表达谱的研究

目的:研究小鼠诱导多能干细胞(i PS细胞)在体外自发性分化和神经定向分化过程中的基因表达谱的特性。方法:在体外将i PS细胞分别进行形成类胚胎小体后自发性分化及成骨蛋白抑制剂Noggin诱导神经定向分化后,通过实时荧光定量PCR(q PCR)测定在分化过程中i PS细胞分化相关基因表达的变化。结果:i PS细胞形成类胚胎小体后胚胎外胚层标志基因(GFAP,Map2和Tu J1)及内胚层标记基因(Foxa2,GATA4和Sox17)的表达随分化而迅速增加,但中胚层标记基因(Bmp4,BRA,FGF5)表达水平变化不明显。在神经定向分化过程中,i PS细胞的神经标志物基因(Map2,Neu N,Tu J1和Sox1)及线粒体相关基因(12s,ND3,ND5,ND6、Cytb和Cox1)的表达都逐渐增加,且两者具有相同的增长趋势。结论:在自发性分化过程中小鼠i PS细胞具有自发向外胚层和内胚层分化的趋势;在神经定向分化过程中,i PS细胞的线粒体相关基因表达随着分化表达逐渐增加,并与神经细胞标记基因具有正相关性,表明线粒体的功能在i PS细胞神经定向分化中发挥重要作用。     

Brief report: chimeric pigs produced from induced pluripotent stem cells demonstrate germline transmission and no evidence of tumor formation in young pigs

The recent development of porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) capable of generating chimeric animals, a feat not previously accomplished with embryonic stem cells or iPSCs in a species outside of rodents, has opened the doors for in-depth study of iPSC tumorigenicity, autologous transplantation, and other key aspects to safely move iPSC therapies to the clinic. The study of iPSC tumorigenicity is critical as previous research in the mouse showed that iPSC-derived chimeras possessed large numbers of tumors, rising significant concerns about the safety of iPSC therapies. Additionally, piPSCs capable of generating germline chimeras could revolutionize the transgenic animal field by enabling complex genetic manipulations (e.g., knockout or knockin of genes) to produce biomedically important large animal models or improve livestock production. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time in a nonrodent species germline transmission of iPSCs with the live birth of a transgenic piglet that possessed genome integration of the human POU5F1 and NANOG genes. In addition, gross and histological examination of necropsied porcine chimeras at 2, 7, and 9 months showed that these animals lacked tumor formation and demonstrated normal development. Tissue samples positive for human POU5F1 DNA showed no C-MYC gene expression, further implicating C-MYC as a cause of tumorigenicity. The development of germline-competent porcine iPSCs that do not produce tumors in young chimeric animals presents an attractive and powerful translational model to study the efficacy and safety of stem cell therapies and perhaps to efficiently produce complex transgenic animals.     

Differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells of swine into rod photoreceptors and their integration into the retina

Absence of a regenerative pathway for damaged retina following injury or disease has led to experiments using stem cell transplantation for retinal repair, and encouraging results have been obtained in rodents. The swine eye is a closer anatomical and physiological match to the human eye, but embryonic stem cells have not been isolated from pig, and photoreceptor differentiation has not been demonstrated with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of swine. Here, we subjected iPSCs of swine to a rod photoreceptor differentiation protocol consisting of floating culture as embryoid bodies followed by differentiation in adherent culture. Real-time PCR and immunostaining of differentiated cells demonstrated loss of expression of the pluripotent genes POU5F1, NANOG, and SOX2 and induction of rod photoreceptor genes RCVRN, NRL, RHO, and ROM1. While these differentiated cells displayed neuronal morphology, culturing on a Matrigel substratum triggered a further morphological change resulting in concentration of rhodopsin (RHO) and rod outer segment-specific membrane protein 1 in outer segment-like projections resembling those on primary cultures of rod photoreceptors. The differentiated cells were transplanted into the subretinal space of pigs treated with iodoacetic acid to eliminate rod photoreceptors. Three weeks after transplantation, engrafted RHO+ cells were evident in the outer nuclear layer where photoreceptors normally reside. A portion of these transplanted cells had generated projections resembling outer segments. These results demonstrate that iPSCs of swine can differentiate into photoreceptors in culture, and these cells can integrate into the damaged swine neural retina, thus, laying a foundation for future studies using the pig as a model for retinal stem cell transplantation.     

Role of Zscan4 in secondary murine iPSC derivation mediated by protein extracts of ESC or iPSC

Previously, we found that the delivery of mouse ES (mES) cell-derived proteins to adult fibroblasts enables the full reprogramming of these cells, converting them to mouse pluripotent stem cells (protein-iPS cells) without transduction of defined factors. During reprogramming, global gene expression and epigenetic status such as DNA methylation and histone modifications convert from somatic to ES-equivalent status. mES cell extract-derived iPS cells are biologically and functionally indistinguishable from mES cells in its potential in differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, these cells show complete developmental potency. However, the efficiency of generating iPS by treatment with extract from mES cells is still low. In this report, we demonstrated that protein extracts of mouse iPS cells that were previously generated by mES cell extract treatment were able to reprogram somatic cells to become ES-like cells (secondary protein-iPS cells). We confirmed that fetal animals (E12.5) could be derived from these cells. Surprisingly, the efficiency of forming Oct4-positive colonies was remarkably improved by treatment of somatic cells with mouse iPS cell extract in comparison to treatment with mES cell extract. By screening the genes differentially expressed between mouse iPS and mES cells, Zscan4, which is known to enhance telomere elongation and stabilize genomic DNA, was identified as a strong candidate to promote efficiency of reprogramming. Interestingly, treatment with protein extracted from mES cells overexpressing Zscan4 enhanced formation of Oct4-positive colonies. Our results provide an efficient and safe strategy for reprogramming somatic cells by using mouse iPS cell extract. Zscan4 might be a key molecule involved in the demonstrated improvement of reprogramming efficiency.     

Amyloid precursor protein is a biomarker for transformed human pluripotent stem cells

Increasing evidence suggests an important function of the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) in malignant disease in humans; however, the biological basis for this evidence is not well understood at present. To understand the role of APP in transformed pluripotent stem cells, we studied its expression levels in human testicular germ cell tumors using patient tissues, model cell lines, and an established xenograft mouse model. In the present study, we demonstrate the cooperative expression of APP with prominent pluripotency-related genes such as Sox2, NANOG, and POU5F1 (Oct3/4). The closest homologue family member, APLP2, showed no correlation to these stem cell factors. In addition, treatment with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors suppressed the levels of APP and stem cell markers. Loss of pluripotency, either spontaneously or as a consequence of treatment with an HDAC inhibitor, was accompanied by decreased APP protein levels both in vitro and in vivo. These observations suggest that APP represents a novel and specific biomarker in human transformed pluripotent stem cells that can be selectively modulated by HDAC inhibitors.     

CARM1维持羊水干细胞干性的机制

BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that methylation modification using CARM1-catalyzed histone H3R17/R26 can maintain the stemness of embryonic stem cells. However, mechanism underlying CARM1 effect on the stemness of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells is still unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the function and underlying molecular mechanism of CARM1 to maintain stemness in the amniotic fluid-derived stem cells. METHODS:Amniotic fluid-derived stem cells from term pregnancy were isolated and cultured. RT-PCR was used to identify the stem cell mark and CARM1 gene expression. CARM1 expression in amniotic fluid-derived stem cells was knocked down by using two shRNA. RT-qPCR was used to detect the silencing efficiency, and western blot employed to examine the methylation level of Arginines 17 at N terminus of histone 3 (H3mR17). Moreover, the expression of embryonic stem cell markers, including OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG, were detected. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Amniotic fluid-derived stem cells from term pregnancy could express CARM1 and stem cell markers, including OCT4, SOX2, Nanog and KLF4. Both of the shRNAs could knock down the expression of CARM1 efficiently. When CARM1 was knocked down, the H3mR17 level was decreased and OCT4, SOX2 expression was also reduced, but NANOG expression had no change. All these indicate that CARM1 is required for amniotic fluid-derived stem cells to maintain stemness through regulating OCT4 and SOX2 expression.     

Electroporation-mediated transfer of SOX trio genes (SOX-5, SOX-6, and SOX-9) to enhance the chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the SOX trio genes (SOX-5, SOX-6, and SOX-9) have a lower level of expression during the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) compared with chondrocytes and that the electroporation-mediated gene transfer of SOX trio promotes chondrogenesis from human MSCs. An in vitro pellet culture was carried out using MSCs or chondrocytes at passage 3 and analyzed after 7 and 21 days. Then, MSCs were transfected with SOX trio genes and analyzed for the expression of chondrogenic markers after 21 days of in vitro culture. Without transforming growth factor-β1, the untransfected MSCs had a lower level of SOX trio gene and protein expression than chondrocytes. However, the level of SOX-9 gene expression increased in MSCs when treated with transforming growth factor-β1. GAG level significantly increased 7-fold in MSCs co-transfected with SOX trio, which was corroborated by Safranin-O staining. SOX trio co-transfection significantly increased COL2A1 gene and protein and decreased COL10A1 protein in MSCs. It is concluded that the SOX trio have a significantly lower expression in human MSCs than in chondrocytes and that the electroporation-mediated co-transfection of SOX trio enhances chondrogenesis and suppresses hypertrophy of human MSCs.     

Establishment of Human cell Type-Specific iPS cells with Enhanced Chondrogenic Potential

The propensity of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to differentiate into specific lineages may be influenced by a number of factors, including the selection of the somatic cell type used for reprogramming. Herein we report the generation of new iPS cells, which we derived from human articular chondrocytes and from cord blood mononucleocytes via lentiviral-mediated delivery of Oct4, Klf4, Sox2, and cMyc. Molecular, cytochemical, and cytogenic analyses confirmed the acquisition of hallmark features of pluripotency, as well as the retention of normal karyotypes following reprogramming of both the human articular chondrocytes (AC) and the cord blood (CB) cells. In vitro and in vivo functional analyses formally established the pluripotent differentiation capacity of all cell lines. Chondrogenic differentiation assays comparing iPS cells derived from AC, CB, and a well established dermal fibroblast cell line (HDFa-Yk26) identified enhanced proteoglycan-rich matrix formation and cartilage-associated gene expression from AC-derived iPS cells. These findings suggest that the tissue of origin may impact the fate potential of iPS cells for differentiating into specialized cell types, such as chondrocytes. Thus, we generated new cellular tools for the identification of inherent features driving high chondrogenic potential of reprogrammed cells.