胚体培养对小鼠ES细胞定向神经分化的影响研究

为了研究胚胎干细胞（ES细胞）的定向诱导分化过程中胚体的形成对其后分化的影响，通过悬滴培养、悬浮培养及两者结合的方法得到2～4d的胚体（EBs），利用全反视黄酸（RA）对其处理4d后，进行免疫细胞化学和兴奋性功能的检测，观察比较了不同培养方式和不同培养时间下EBs分化出来的神经细胞所占的比例。结果表明，用单纯悬浮3d或悬滴3d转悬浮1d的培养方法得到的胚体其神经分化的比例较高，这对进一步阐明胚胎干细胞自身内部调控诱导分化的机制有一定的参考意义。     

Knockdown of IKK1/2 Promotes Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells into Neuroectoderm at the Expense of Mesoderm

Activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-??B) is accomplished by a specific kinase complex (IKK-complex), phosphorylating inhibitors of NF-??B (I??B). In embryonic stem cells (ESCs), NF-??B signaling causes loss of pluripotency and promotes differentiation towards a mesodermal phenotype. Here we show that NF-??B signaling is involved in cell fate determination during retinoic acid (RA) mediated differentiation of ESCs. Knockdown of IKK1 and IKK2 promotes differentiation of ESCs into neuroectoderm at the expense of neural crest derived myofibroblasts. Our data indicate that RA is not only able to induce neuronal differentiation in vitro but also drives ESCs into a neural crest cell lineage represented by differentiation towards peripheral neurons and myofibroblasts. The NC is a transiently existing, highly multipotent embryonic cell population generating a wide range of different cell types. During embryonic development the NC gives rise to distinct precursor lineages along the anterior-posterior axis determining differentiation towards specific derivates. Retinoic acid (RA) signaling provides essential instructive cues for patterning the neuroectoderm along the anterior-posterior axis. The demonstration of RA as a sufficient instructive signal for the differentiation of pluripotent cells towards NC and the involvement of NF-??B during this process provides useful information for the generation of specific NC-lineages, which are valuable for studying NC development or disease modeling.     

Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells to Lympho-Hematopoietic Lineagesin Vitro

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate in culture to late stages of many cell lineages. have found culture conditions that are favorable for development in vitro of ES cells into hematopoietic cells at a stage equivalent to day 11-14 of fetal liver development. describe here: (1) the growth conditions necessary for maintenance of ES cells in an undifferentiated state, and the conditions that allow differentiation of cystic embryoid bodies that contain precursors of most hematopoietic cell lineages, including lymphoid cells; (2) the development of lymphoid vessels from ES fetusesin vivo; (3) the characterization of lymphoid, erythroid, megakaryoid, and myeloid cells from ES fetuses; and (4) the cloning of cell lines representing lymphoid, myeloid lineage cells from differentiated ES cells.     

BMP4/Smad Signaling Pathway Induces the Differentiation of Mouse Spermatogonial Stem Cells via Upregulation of Sohlh2

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) capable of self‐renewal and differentiation are the foundation for spermatogenesis. Although several factors that govern these processes have been investigated, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the role of BMP4 in mouse SSC differentiation, and found that SSCs cultured in the presence of BMP4 underwent differentiation, characterized by downregulation of SSC self‐renewal markers, Plzf, and upregulation of SSC differentiation marker, c‐kit. Smad1/5/8 proteins were phosphorylated during BMP4‐induced differentiation. The effects of BMP4 on SSCs were blocked by BMP4 inhibitor (Dorsomorphin). The activation of BMP4/Smad signaling pathway in SSCs increased the expression of Sohlh2, which is involved in the early differentiation of spermatogonia. Knockdown sohlh2 expression by RNA interference abolished the effect of BMP4 on SSC differentiation and the upregulation of c‐kit expression. Overall, our results suggest that BMP4 plays an important role during the early differentiation of SSCs via upregulation of sohlh2. Anat Rec, 297:749–757, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

HTS/HCS to Screen Molecules Able to Maintain Embryonic Stem Cell Self-Renewal or to Induce Differentiation: Overview of Protocols

Embryonic stem (ES) cells, combining self-renewal ability with wide range tissue-specific cell differentiation, represent one of the most powerful model systems in basic research, drug discovery and biomedical applications. In the field of drug development, ES cells are instrumental in high-throughput/content screening (HTS/HCS) for the evaluation of large compound libraries to test biological activity and toxic properties. Since it is a high priority to test new compounds in vitro, before starting animal and human treatments, there is an increasing demand for new in vitro models that can be used in HTS/HCS to facilitate drug development. In order to achieve this objective, several methods for ES cell self-renewal or differentiation have been evaluated to assess their compatibility with HTS/HCS. This review describes protocols used to screen molecules able to maintain self-renewal or to induce differentiation in ectodermal, mesodermal, endodermal, and their derivative cell lines.     

胚胎干细胞向心肌细胞方向诱导分化的进展

胚胎干细胞是具有在体外无限扩增且可向外、中、内三胚层分化的全能干细胞。在体外可以通过自主分化、加入药物、加入生理活性物质、共培养以及转基因等方法对其进行诱导和调节生成心肌细胞,为心肌梗死等心脏重大疾病患者实施细胞治疗提供理想的种子细胞。     

大鼠胚胎神经干细胞的纯化、诱导分化及鉴定

探讨胚胎神经干细胞 (Neural stem cell,NSCs)的体外纯化扩增、保存标记、诱导分化及其鉴定方法。将14 .5 d胎龄大鼠大脑额叶皮质 NSCs在无血清 DMEM/ F12 (含 2 0 ng/ ml b FGF,2 0 ng/ m l EGF及 B2 7辅助培养液 )培养 ,利用有限稀释法将悬浮生长的单个细胞所形成的克隆球挑选出来、通过亚克隆连续传代大量扩增而纯化 ,免疫组化鉴定 nestin抗原阳性 ;选取部分 NSCs冻存、复苏后 nestin抗原阳性 ;用 Brd U孵育 NSCs,被 Brd U标记的 NSCs及其血清诱导分化后仍均呈 Brd U阳性。用血清或饲养层诱导 NSCs分化为大量表达 Tubulin- (神经元特异性抗原微管蛋白 3)阳性的神经元和 GFAP(神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白 )阳性的神经胶质细胞。由该实验可知有限稀释单细胞克隆连续传代是分离纯化、大量扩增胚胎期大脑 NSCs的简单有效方法。饲养层细胞也能诱导 NSCs分化为神经细胞。 Brd U可标记、示踪神经系统疾病动物模型 NSCs的实验治疗。掌握 NSCs的体外纯化培养、保存标记、诱导分化及鉴定方法可为进一步研究 NSCs的生物学特性及神经系统疾病的治疗提供新方法。     

Efficient and User-Friendly Pluripotin-based Derivation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Classic derivation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells from blastocysts is inefficient, strain-dependent, and requires expert skills. Over recent years, several major improvements have greatly increased the success rate for deriving mouse ES cell lines. The first improvement was the establishment of a user-friendly and reproducible medium-alternating protocol that allows isolation of ES cells from C57BL/6 transgenic mice with efficiencies of up to 75%. A recent report describes the use of this protocol in combination with leukemia inhibitory factor and pluripotin treatment, which made it possible to obtain ES cells from F1 strains with high efficiency. We report modifications of these protocols for user-friendly and reproducible derivation of mouse ES cells with efficiencies of up to 100%. Our protocol involves a long initial incubation of primary outgrowths from blastocysts with pluripotin, which results in the formation of large spherical outgrowths. These outgrowths are morphologically distinct from classical inner cell mass (ICM) outgrowths and can be easily picked and trypsinized. Pluripotin was omitted after the first trypsinization because we found that it blocks attachment of ES cells to the feeder layer and its removal facilitated formation of ES cell colonies. The newly established ES cells exhibited normal karyotypes and generated chimeras. In summary, our user-friendly modified protocol allows formation of large spherical ICM outgrowths in a robust and reliable manner. These outgrowths gave rise to ES cell lines with success rates of up to 100%.     

胚胎小鼠纹状体神经干细胞的体外培养和分化

目的：探索胚胎小鼠纹状体神经干细胞(striatum-neural stem cells，^strNSC)的体外培养和分化鉴定方法。方法：无菌条件下分离E15天胚胎小鼠纹状体，制成单细胞悬液，在bFGF和B27存在的培养基中培养扩增，通过免疫细胞化学显色鉴定神经干细胞及其子代细胞的分化方向。结果：培养的部分细胞在B27和bFGF存在的无血清培养基中可以在体外分裂增殖，同时表达神经干细胞特异性抗原nestin，并在撤出B27和bFGF的有血清培养基中向神经细胞和神经胶质细胞分化。结论：胚胎小鼠纹状体存在具有多分化潜能的神经干细胞，它们能在体外培养、传代和自然分化．     

New Approaches in the Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells toward Hepatocytes

Orthotropic liver transplantation is the only established treatment for end-stage liver diseases. Utilization of hepatocyte transplantation and bio-artificial liver devices as alternative therapeutic approaches requires an unlimited source of hepatocytes. Stem cells, especially embryonic stem cells, possessing the ability to produce functional hepatocytes for clinical applications and drug development, may provide the answer to this problem. New discoveries in the mechanisms of liver development and the emergence of induced pluripotent stem cells in 2006 have provided novel insights into hepatocyte differentiation and the use of stem cells for therapeutic applications. This review is aimed towards providing scientists and physicians with the latest advancements in this rapidly progressing field.     

Isolation and Differentiation of Chondrocytic Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells Using dlk1/FA1 as a Novel Surface Marker

Few surface markers are available to monitor lineage differentiation during chondrogenesis. Recently, delta-like1/fetal antigen1 (dlk1/FA1), a transmembrane protein of the Notch/Delta/Serrata family, was shown to be essential for inducing early chondrogenesis. Thus, we investigated the possible use of dlk1/FA1 as a novel surface marker for chondroprogenitor cells during hESC differentiation. We found that, Dlk1/FA1 is expressed specifically in cells undergoing transition from proliferating to prehypertrophic chondrocytes during endochondral ossification of the mouse limb. In hESC cells, dlk1/FA1 was not expressed by undifferentiated hESC, but expressed during in vitro embryoid bodies (hEBs) formation upon down-regulation of undifferentiated markers e.g. Oct 3/4. Similarly, dlk1/FA1 was expressed in chondrocytic cells during in vivo teratoma formation. Interestingly, treatment of hEBs with Activin B, a member of TGF-ß family, markedly increased Dlk1 expression in association with up-regulation of the mesoderm-specific markers (e.g. FOXF1, KDR and VE-cadherin) and SOX9. dlk1/FA1⁺ cells isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) were capable of differentiating into chondrocytic cells when cultured as micromass pellets in a xeno-free system containing TGFβ1. In conclusion, we identified dlk1/FA1 as a novel marker of chondroprogenitor cells that undergo embryonic lineage progression from proliferation to the prehypertrophic stage. Tracking dlk1/FA1 expression as a mesoderm/chondroprogenitor surface marker provides a novel strategy for designing clinically relevant protocols to direct the differentiation of hESC into chondrocytes.     

Fast and Efficient Transfection of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Using Non-Viral Reagents

Reliable and efficient DNA and RNA transfection methods are required when studying the role of individual genes in mouse pluripotent stem cells. However, these cells usually grow in tight clusters and are therefore more difficult to transfect than many other cell lines. We have found that transfection is especially challenging when mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells are cultured in the newly described 2i medium, which is based on two chemical inhibitors of differentiation pathways. In the present study we have performed a side-by-side comparison of commercially available, non-viral transfection reagents with regard to their ability to deliver plasmid DNA and siRNA into adherent and/or trypsinized mES cells cultured in 2i medium, assessing transfection rates, plasmid gene expression, siRNA mediated knockdown of Oct4 and viability. Finally, we present a fast and efficient method for transfection of trypsinized mES cells using the liposomal-based Lipofectamine 2000. With only a five-minute long transfection time we obtained at least 85 % transfected cells with 80 % maintained viability. Moreover, this protocol saves up to a day of experimental time since the cells are in suspension at the time of transfection, which allows for immediately re-plating into the appropriate format. This fast, simplified and highly efficient transfection method will be valuable for both basic research and high-throughput applications.     

Evidence of Extracellular Vesicles Biogenesis and Release in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) are considered a source of bioactive molecules that modulate their microenvironment by acting on intercellular communication. Either intracellular endosomal machinery or their derived EVs have been considered a relevant system of signal circuits processing. Herein, we show that these features are found in mESCs. Ultrastructural analysis revealed structures and organelles of the endosomal system such as coated pits and endocytosis-related vesicles, prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, and multivesicular bodies (MVBs) containing either few or many intraluminal vesicles (ILVs) that could be released as exosomes to extracellular milieu. Besides, budding vesicles shed from the plasma membrane to the extracellular space is suggestive of microvesicle biogenesis in mESCs. mESCs and mouse blastocyst express specific markers of the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) system. Ultrastructural analysis and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) of isolated EVs revealed a heterogeneous population of exosomes and microvesicles released by mESCs. These vesicles contain Wnt10b and the Notch ligand Delta-like 4 (DLL4) and also the co-chaperone stress inducible protein 1 (STI1) and its partner Hsp90. Wnt10b and Dll4 colocalize with EVs biogenesis markers in mESCs. Overall, the present study supports the function of the mESCs endocytic network and their EVs as players in stem cell biology.     

Efficient ROSA26-Based Conditional and/or Inducible Transgenesis Using RMCE-Compatible F1 Hybrid Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

The conditional Cre/loxP system and/or the doxycycline (Dox) inducible Tet-on/off system are widely used in mouse transgenesis but often require time consuming, inefficient cloning/screening steps and extensive mouse breeding strategies. We have therefore developed a highly efficient Gateway- and recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE)-compatible system to target conditional and/or inducible constructs to the ROSA26 locus of F1 hybrid Bl6/129 ESCs, called G4 ROSALUC ESCs. By combining the Cre/loxP system with or without the inducible Tet-on system using Gateway cloning, we can rapidly generate spatial and/or temporal controllable gain-of-function constructs that can be targeted to the RMCE-compatible ROSA26 locus of the G4 ROSALUC ESCs with efficiencies close to 100 %. These novel ESC-based technologies allow for the creation of multiple gain-of-function conditional and/or inducible transgenic ESC clones and mouse lines in a highly efficient and locus specific manner. Importantly, incorporating insulator sequences into the Dox-inducible vector system resulted in robust, stable transgene expression in undifferentiated ESCs but could not fully overcome transgene mosaicism in the differentiated state.     

Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Cardiomyocytes for In Vitro and In Vivo Applications

The ability of human embryonic stem cells to differentiate into spontaneously contracting cardiomyocyte-like cells has attracted substantial interest from the scientific community over the last decade. From having been difficult to control, human cardiomyogenesis in vitro is now becoming a process which, to a certain extent, can be effectively manipulated and directed. Although much research remains, new and improved protocols for guiding pluripotent stem cells to the cardiomyocyte lineage are accumulating in the scientific literature. However, the stem cell derived cardiomyocytes described to date, generally resemble immature embryonic/fetal cardiomyocytes, and they are in some functional and structural aspects different from adult cardiomyocytes. Thus, a future challenge will be to design strategies that eventually may allow the cells to reach a higher degree of maturation in vitro. Nevertheless, the cells which can be prepared using current protocols still have wide spread utility, and they have begun to find their way into the drug discovery platforms used in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, stem cell derived cardiomyocytes and cardiac progenitors are anticipated to have a tremendous impact on how heart disease will be treated in the future. Here, we will discuss recent strategies for the generation of cardiomyocytes from human embryonic stem cells and recapitulate their features, as well as highlight some in vitro applications for the cells. Finally, opportunities in the area of cardiac regenerative medicine will be illustrated.     

An Inhibitor of Arachidonate 5-Lipoxygenase, Nordy, Induces Differentiation and Inhibits Self-Renewal of Glioma Stem-Like Cells

Recent progress in cancer biology indicates that eradication of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is essential for more effective cancer therapy. Unfortunately, cancer stem cells such as glioma stem-like cells (GSLCs) are often resistant to either radio- or chemotherapy. Therefore, screening and development for novel therapeutic modalities against CSCs has been an important emerging field in cancer research. In this study, we report that a synthetic dl-nordihydroguaiaretic acid compound (dl-NDGA or “Nordy”), inhibited self-renewal and induced differentiation of GSLCs in vitro and in vivo. We found that Nordy inhibited an enzyme known to be involved in leukemia stem cell and leukemia progression, Alox-5, and attenuated the growth of GSLCs in vitro. Nordy reduced the GSLC pool through a decrease in the CD133⁺ population and abrogated clonogenicity. Nordy appeared to exert its effect via astrocytic differentiation by up-regulation of GFAP and down-regulation of stemness related genes, rather than by inducing apoptosis of GSLCs. The growth inhibition of xenografted glioma by Nordy was more long-lasting compared with that of the akylating agent BCNU, which exhibited significant relapse on drug discontinuation resulting from an enrichment of GSLCs. Meanwhile, transient exposure to Nordy reduced tumorigenecity of GSLCs and induced differentiation of the xenografts. Taken together, we have identified Alox-5 as a novel target in GSLCs and its inhibition with Nordy exhibits therapeutic implications through inducing GSLC differentiation.