Cardiac differentiation is modulated by anti-apoptotic signals in murine embryonic stem cells

BACKGROUND Embryonic stem cells(ESCs)serve as a crucial ex vivo model,representing epiblast cells derived from the inner cell mass of blastocyst-stage embryos.ESCs exhibit a unique combination of self-renewal potency,unlimited proliferation,and pluripotency.The latter is evident by the ability of the isolated cells to differ-entiate spontaneously into multiple cell lineages,representing the three primary embryonic germ layers.Multiple regulatory networks guide ESCs,directing their self-renewal and lineage-specific differentiation.Apoptosis,or programmed cell death,emerges as a key event involved in sculpting and forming various organs and structures ensuring proper embryonic development.How-ever,the molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic interplay between diffe-rentiation and apoptosis remain poorly understood.AIM To investigate the regulatory impact of apoptosis on the early differentiation of ESCs into cardiac cells,using mouse ESC(mESC)models-mESC-B-cell lym-phoma 2(BCL-2),mESC-PIM-2,and mESC-metallothionein-1(MET-1)-which overexpress the anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-2,Pim-2,and Met-1,respectively.METHODS mESC-T2(wild-type),mESC-BCL-2,mESC-PIM-2,and mESC-MET-1 have been used to assess the effect of potentiated apoptotic signals on cardiac differentiation.The hanging drop method was adopted to generate embryoid bodies(EBs)and induce terminal differentiation of mESCs.The size of the generated EBs was measured in each condition compared to the wild type.At the functional level,the percentage of cardiac differentiation was measured by calculating the number of beating cardiomyocytes in the manipulated mESCs compared to the control.At the molecular level,quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to assess the mRNA expression of three cardiac markers:Troponin T,GATA4,and NKX2.5.Additionally,troponin T protein expression was evaluated through immunofluorescence and western blot assays.RESULTS Our findings showed that the upregulation of Bcl-2,Pim-2,and Met-1 genes led to a reduction in the size of the EBs derived from the manipulated mESCs,in comparison with their wild-type counterpart.Additionally,a decrease in the count of beating cardiomyocytes among differentiated cells was observed.Furthermore,the mRNA expression of three cardiac markers-troponin T,GATA4,and NKX2.5-was diminished in mESCs overexpressing the three anti-apoptotic genes compared to the control cell line.Moreover,the overexpression of the anti-apoptotic genes resulted in a reduction in troponin T protein expression.CONCLUSION Our findings revealed that the upregulation of Bcl-2,Pim-2,and Met-1 genes altered cardiac differentiation,providing insight into the intricate interplay between apoptosis and ESC fate determination.

Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase activation enhances embryonic neural stem cell apoptosis in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Alterations in embryonic neural stem cells play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We hypothesized that embryonic neural stem cells from SOD1G93A individuals might be more susceptible to oxidative injury, resulting in a propensity for neurodegeneration at later stages. In this study, embryonic neural stem cells obtained from human superoxide dis- mutase 1 mutant （SOD1G93A） and wild-type （SOD1wv） mouse models were exposed to H202. We assayed cell viability with mitochondrial succinic dehydrogenase colorimetric reagent, and measured cell apoptosis by flow cytometry. Moreover, we evaluated the expression of the adenos- ine monophosphate-activated protein kinase （AMPK） ct-subunit, paired box 3 （Pax3） protein, and p53 in western blot analyses. Compared with SOD1wr cells, SOD1~93A embryonic neural stem cells were more likely to undergo H202-induced apoptosis. Phosphorylation of AMPKct in SOD1G93A cells was higher than that in SOD1wr cells. Pax3 expression was inversely correlated with the phosphorylation levels of AMPKct. p53 protein levels were also correlated with AMPKct phosphorylation levels. Compound C, an inhibitor of AMPKa, attenuated the effects of H20~. These results suggest that embryonic neural stem cells from SOD1C93A mice are more susceptible to apoptosis in the presence of oxidative stress compared with those from wild-type controls, and the effects are mainly mediated by Pax3 and p53 in the AMPKa pathway.

Isolation and differentiation of embryonic stem cells from BALB/c mouse

Objective To invest the efficient method which can culture and induce embryonic stem cells to neuroeyte in vitro. Methods Isolate the blastula o f 3.5 d from BALB/c species mouse. Culture the cells from inner cell mass （inner cell mass, ICM） which were isolated by mechanical method on the mouse embryonic fibroblaste cell （MEF） feeder layer or 0.1% gelatin coated dishes. The stem ceils were identified by characterized morphology, alkaline phosphatase stain, differential potency in vivo and immunoehemistry stain. The isolated cells were differentiated by serial induction method that mimicking the intrinsic developmental process of the neural system. Results The isolated cells were positive for alkaline phosphatatse and SSEA-1 （ stage specific embryonic antigen 1 ）. Moreover they were identified pluripotent by differentiation in vivo. Therefore the isolated ceils presented the characters of ESCs. Then the isolated cells were able to differentiate into neuroeytes in vitro. Conclusion Mouse embryonic stem ceils isolation, culture and differentiation system has been established.

MiR-301a promotes embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.Tissue repair after pathological injury in the heart remains a major challenge due to the limited regenerative ability of cardiomyocytes in adults.Stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes provide a promising source for the cell transplantation-based treatment of injured hearts.AIM To explore the function and mechanisms of miR-301a in regulating cardiomyocyte differentiation of mouse embryonic stem(mES)cells,and provide experimental evidence for applying miR-301a to the cardiomyocyte differentiation induction from stem cells.METHODS mES cells with or without overexpression of miR-301a were applied for all functional assays.The hanging drop technique was applied to form embryoid bodies from mES cells.Cardiac markers including GATA-4,TBX5,MEF2C,andα-actinin were used to determine cardiomyocyte differentiation from mES cells.RESULTS High expression of miR-301a was detected in the heart from late embryonic to neonatal mice.Overexpression of miR-301a in mES cells significantly induced the expression of cardiac transcription factors,thereby promoting cardiomyocyte differentiation and beating cardiomyocyte clone formation.PTEN is a target gene of miR-301a in cardiomyocytes.PTEN-regulated PI3K-AKT-mTOR-Stat3 signaling showed involvement in regulating miR-301a-promoted cardiomyocyte differentiation from mES cells.CONCLUSION MiR-301a is capable of promoting embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiomyocytes.

Generation of genetically modified mice using CRISPR/Cas9 and haploid embryonic stem cell systems

With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology in the post-genomic era, researchers have concentrated their efforts on elucidating the relationships between genes and their corresponding functions. Recently, important progress has been achieved in the generation of genetically modified mice based on CRISPR/Cas9 and haploid embryonic stem cell （haESC） approaches, which provide new platforms for gene function analysis, human disease modeling, and gene therapy. Here, we review the CRISPR/Cas9 and haESC technology for the generation of genetically modified mice and discuss the key challenges in the application of these approaches.

Dynamic deformylation of 5-formylcytosine and decarboxylation of 5-carboxylcytosine during differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into mouse neurons

Regulation of cell fate requires the establishment and erasure of 5-methylcytosine(5mC) in genomic DNA.The formation of 5mC is achieved by DNA cytosine methyltransferases(DNMTs),whereas the removal of5mC can be accomplished by various pathways.Aside from ten-eleven translocation(TET)-mediated oxidation of 5mC followed by thymine DNA glycosylase(TDG)-initiated base excision repair(BER),the direct deformylation of 5-formylcytosine(5fC) and decarboxylation of 5-carboxylcytosine(5caC) have also been discovered as the novel DNA demethylation pathways.Although these novel demethylation pathways have been identified in stem cells and somatic cells,their precise roles in regulating cell fate remain unclear.Here,we differentiate mouse embryonic stem cells(mESCs) into mouse embryoid bodies(mEBs),followed by further differentiation into mouse neural stem cells(mNSCs) and finally into mouse neurons(mNeurons).During this sequential differentiation process,we employ probe molecules,namely2'-fluorinated 5-formylcytidine(F-5fC) and 2'-fluorinated 5-carboxyldeoxycytidine(F-5caC),for metabolic labeling.The results of mass spectrometry(MS) analysis demonstrate the deformylation and decarboxylation activities are progressively decreased and increased respectively during differentiation process,and this opposite demethylation tendency is not associated with DNMTs and TETs.

TGF-β receptors in mouse ES-5 cells and their differentiated derivatives

By radioreceptor binding studies with iodinated TGF-β1, it has been shown that an undifferentiated ES-5 cell expresses approximately 3270 receptors with a dissociation constant Kd=130pM, but after the induction of differenti-ation by retinoic acid and dBcAMP, the receptor number of a differentiated RA-ES-5 cell was increased about 80% and the Kd was also increased to 370 pM. Furthermore,more direct evidence supporting the expression of TGF-βtype Ⅰand type Ⅱ receptors in both ES-5 and RA-ES-5 cells has come from dot blot hybridization of cellular mRNA with cDNA probes for type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ recep-tors. Meanwhile, mRNA expression level of types Ⅰ and Ⅱreceptors in RA-ES-5 cells were higher than that in ES-5 cells. Down regulation of TGF-β receptors with a signifi-cant decrease in the rate of cell proliferation in both cells, was found by employing a pretreatment with neutralizing antibody to TGF-β1. The possible role of receptors for TGF-β in cen differentiation is discussed here.

Low level of activin A secreted by fibroblast feeder cells accelerates early stage differentiation of retinal pigment epithelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) differentiated to retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) provide a promising tool for cell replacement therapies of retinal degenerative diseases. The in vitro differentiation of hPSC-RPE is still poorly understood and current differentiation protocols rely on spontaneous differentiation on fibroblast feeder cells or as floating cell aggregates in suspension. The fibroblast feeder cells may have an inductive effect on the hPSC-RPE differentiation, providing variable signals mimicking the extraocular mesenchyme that directs the differentiation in vivo. The effect of the commonly used fibroblast feeder cells on the hPSCRPE differentiation was studied by comparing suspension differentiation in standard RPEbasic (no bFGF) medium to RPEbasic medium conditioned with mouse embryonic (mEF-CM) and human foreskin (hFF-CM) fibroblast feeder cells. The fibroblast secreted factors were found to enhance early hPSC-RPE differentiation. The onset of pigmentation was faster in the conditioned media (CM) compared to RPEbasic for both human embryonic (hESC) and induced pluripotent (iPSC) stem cells, with the first pigments appearing around two weeks of differentiation. After four weeks of differentiation, CM conditions consistently contained higher number of pigmented cell aggregates. The ratio of PAX6 and MITF positive cells was quantified to be clearly higher in the CM conditions, with mEFCM containing most positive cells. The mEF cells were found to secrete low levels of activin A growth factor that is known to regulate eye field differentiation. As RPEbasic was supplemented with corresponding, low level (10 ng/ml) of recombinant human activin A, a clear increase in the hPSC-RPE differentiation was achieved. Thus, inductive effect provided by feeder cells was at least partially driven by activin A and could be substituted with a low level of recombinant growth factor in contrasts to previously reported much higher concentrations.

TRPC3 is required for the survival, pluripotency and neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells(mESCs)

Transient receptor potential canonical subfamily member 3(TRPC3) is known to be important for neural development and the formation of neuronal networks. Here, we investigated the role of TRPC3 in undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells(mESCs) and during the differentiation of mESCs into neurons. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout(KO) of TRPC3 induced apoptosis and the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential both in undifferentiated mESCs and in those undergoing neural differentiation. In addition, TRPC3 KO impaired the pluripotency of mESCs. TRPC3 KO also dramatically repressed the neural differentiation of mESCs by inhibiting the expression of markers for neural progenitors, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.Taken together, our new data demonstrate an important function of TRPC3 with regards to the survival, pluripotency and neural differentiation of mESCs.

纯钛表面负载无定形多聚磷酸钙涂层对成骨分化影响

目的探讨纯钛表面负载无定形多聚磷酸钙(Ca-polyP)涂层对成骨分化的影响。方法取TA2级纯钛片,表面构建Ca-polyP涂层,采用场发射扫描电子显微镜、X射线能量色散谱仪、X射线衍射仪、傅立叶变换红外光谱仪和接触角测量仪对材料进行表征。将小鼠胚胎成骨前体细胞接种于纯钛片(对照组)以及负载Ca-polyP涂层的钛片(实验组)上进行细胞培养,采用CCK-8法测定细胞的增殖活性,通过碱性磷酸酶活性测定以及碱性磷酸酶染色评估两组钛片表面细胞的成骨分化能力。结果多种物理表征方法检测结果证明20链长Ca-polyP涂层成功负载在钛片表面。CCK-8检测结果显示,两组钛片均无细胞毒性,且共培养7 d时实验组钛片表面的细胞增殖活性显著高于对照组,差异具有统计学意义(F=1375.183,P<0.001)。随着共培养时间的延长,两组钛片表面细胞的碱性磷酸酶活性均逐渐增高,共培养7 d时实验组钛片表面细胞的碱性磷酸酶活性显著高于对照组,差异具有统计学意义(F=41.141,P<0.01)。碱性磷酸酶染色后荧光倒置显微镜下观察,实验组钛片上的蓝紫色深染结节明显多于对照组。结论与纯钛相比,钛片表面负载Ca-polyP涂层可以显著增强小鼠胚胎成骨前体细胞的增殖和成骨分化能力。

TNF-α和VEGF协同作用小鼠胚胎干细胞衍生的血管内皮祖细胞促伤口愈合

皮肤伤口愈合是世界范围内的重大临床难题之一,血管生成和炎症反应是影响伤口愈合和组织再生的关键环节。内皮祖细胞(endothelial progenitor cell,EPC)在血管内皮修复和招募炎症细胞促伤口愈合过程中发挥重要作用。然而,体内直接输送EPC低效且会损害细胞存活力和功能进而影响治愈效率。因此,改善EPC的生物学功能以促进伤口愈合很有必要。本研究将小鼠胚胎干细胞(mouse embryonic stem cells,mESC)在10 ng/mL VEGF和5 ng/mL bFGF的作用下诱导获得CD133+CD34+EPC。以mESC衍生的EPC为研究对象,将外源性肿瘤坏死因子-α(tumor necrosis factor-α,TNF-α)和血管内皮生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF)作用于mESC-EPC,结果表明,10 ng/mL TNF-α和10 ng/mL VEGF协同处理组相比于单因子处理显著促进EPC的黏附、细胞迁移和管腔形成能力(P<0.01)。进一步通过建立小鼠局部皮肤全层创伤模型,在创周处注射10 ng/mL TNF-α和10 ng/mL VEGF协同EPC治疗明显加速伤口愈合(P<0.05),再生皮肤真皮层增厚(P<0.001),促进血管生成素ANG1和ANG2介导CD31+内皮细胞构成的毛细血管网络成熟。随着伤口愈合程度的加深,促炎因子TNF-α在蛋白质水平的表达下调(术后13 d,PBS组、EPC组、VE组、TE组和VTE组的TNF-α相对表达量分别为0.73±0.01、0.60±0.02、0.42±0.02、0.36±0.01和0.34±0.03),创造有利于伤口愈合的炎症微环境。综上所述,10 ng/mL TNF-α和10 ng/mL VEGF的协同作用强化EPC的生物学功能,并通过促进新血管生成和早期炎症反应加速小鼠皮肤伤口闭合和组织重塑,为细胞干预伤口愈合治疗提出新的思路。

淫羊藿苷诱导mESCs分化为心肌样细胞的研究

本研究探讨了淫羊藿苷(Icariin,ICA)对小鼠胚胎干细胞(Mouse embryonic stemcells,mESCs)定向分化为心肌样细胞的效果。试验以mESCs分化培养液为空白对照组,分别添加淫羊藿苷10-6mol.L-1(ICA1)、10-7mol.L-1(ICA2)、10-8mol.L-1(ICA3)3个剂量为试验组,对诱导后培养4周的mESCs采用免疫细胞化学法鉴定诱导后细胞中肌动蛋白T(cTnT)的表达,并计算心肌样细胞分化率;采用RT-PCR鉴定诱导后mESCs中心肌特异性基因MLC-2v、α-MHC、β-MHC、Nkx2.5、GATA-4的表达。结果在诱导后细胞中有心肌特异性蛋白cTnT表达;ICA2组分化率显著高于对照组和其他剂量组;且诱导后细胞有心肌特异性基因MLC-2v、α-MHC、β-MHC、Nkx2.5、GATA-4表达。结果表明,ICA可在体外诱导mESCs定向分化为心肌样细胞,10-7mol.L-1ICA为最佳诱导浓度。

LMO4在小鼠胚胎干细胞分化为血管内皮细胞和血管生成中的作用

目的探讨转录因子LIM结构域蛋白4(LMO4)在小鼠胚胎干细胞(mESC)分化为血管内皮细胞及新生血管中的作用。方法使用逆转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)方法从小鼠红系白血病细胞系MEL)中克隆小鼠Lmo4的cDNA,并亚克隆到含有小鼠胎肝激酶-1(Flk-1)启动子驱动表达Gfp的载体(pFG),构建成血管细胞特异性表达的LMO4的载体pFLG。将表达载体转染mESC,通过遗传霉素(G418)筛选,获得mESC/pFG和mESC/pFLG的细胞株;将这些mESC在体外进行自我分化,以形成4 d和10 d的胚胎体(EB),并进行成血管细胞的集落细胞形成实验(BL-CFC);以10 d-EB进行新生血管出芽实验,观察和分析出芽长短、数目;运用蛋白免疫印迹(Western blot)或定量RT-PCR方法对目的基因的表达进行检测。结果PCR结果证实成功构建了成血管细胞特异性表达的LMO4的表达载体pFLG。通过G418筛选获得mESC/pFG和mESC/pFLG的细胞株。这些mESC通过自我分化形成4 d-EB和10 d-EB,荧光显微镜下观察到EB内均可见绿色荧光标记的细胞。Western blot检测显示:与mESC相比,4 d-EB和10 d-EB的LMO4的表达显著增加。过量表达LMO4的mESC/pFLG产生BL-CFC效率为(7.70%±1.27%),而mESC/pFG细胞产生BL-CFC效率为(1.15%±0.48%),二者差异有统计学意义(P=0.021)。定量RT-PCR结果显示,Flk-1、C-kit、Tie-2、Ve-cad基因在10 d-EB/pFLG中的表达,均较10 d-EB/pFG中表达增加2倍以上。新生血管出芽实验结果显示,10 d-EB/pFLG的新生血管数量和长度均较10 d-EB/pFG增加(P<0.05)。结论过量表达LMO4促进mESC形成成血管细胞,并有利于血管内皮细胞的分化和血管的新生。

Interrogating a cell signalling network sensitively monitors cell fate transition during early differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

The different cell types in an animal are often considered to be specified by combinations of transcription factors,and defined by marker gene expression.This paradigm is challenged,however,in stem cell research and application.Using a mouse embryonic stem cell(mESC) culture system,here we show that the expression level of many key stem cell marker genes/transcription factors such as Oct4,Sox2 and Nanog failed to monitor cell status transition during mESC differentiation.On the other hand,the response patterns of cell signalling network to external stimuli,as monitored by the dynamics of protein phosphorylation,changed dramatically.Our results also suggest that an irreversible alternation in the cell signalling network precedes the adjustment of transcription factor levels.This is consistent with the notion that signal transduction events regulate cell fate specification.We propose that interrogating a cell signalling network can assess the cell property more precisely,and provide a sensitive measurement for the early events in cell fate transition.We wish to bring attention to the potential problem of cell identification using a few marker genes,and suggest a novel methodology to address this issue.

mESC衍生内皮祖细胞定向分化为血管内皮细胞促伤口愈合

缺血性功能障碍是重要的全球健康问题。血管内皮细胞(vascular endothelial cell,VEC)在血管生成和创面修复中发挥关键作用,血管重建不足可导致慢性不愈合伤口。因此,了解有效的血管内皮细胞生成策略有助于受损组织中的血管再生。胚胎干细胞(embryonic stem cell,ESC)在组织的内皮化研究中应用广泛。内皮祖细胞(endothelial progenitor cell,EPC)是血管内皮细胞发育中不可或缺的部分。本研究目的在于找到一种小鼠胚胎干细胞(mouse embryonic stem cell,mESC)衍生为内皮祖细胞的快速、易筛选且高重复性的方法,并从内皮祖细胞定向分化中获得存活率高和功能性好的血管内皮细胞。结果表明,胚胎干细胞通过10 ng/mL VEGF和5 ng/mL bFGF定向诱导分化为增殖能力强的“铺路石”样祖细胞。同时,差异贴壁法有助于EPC的筛选。而EPC可诱导3 d的祖细胞高表达CD 133和CD 34(相对表达量分别为0.88±0.04和2.12±0.02);采用acctuse酶消化祖细胞,并在50 ng/mL VEGF和25 ng/mL bFGF的条件下诱导7 d分化为血管内皮样细胞,该细胞不仅高表达内皮细胞标志基因CD31、CD144、LAMA5、Tek、KDR和vWF,高表达标志蛋白CD31、CD144、LAMA5(相对表达量分别为1.07±0.03、0.60±0.02和0.70±0.02),而且具有良好的迁移、成管和Weibel Palade(W-P)小体形成能力。随后,将PBS、EPC和VEC分别应用于大小相同的创面治疗,EPC和VEC均能加快组织愈合程度(相对愈合率分别为78.93±75.35%、95.57±83.73%和100.00±0.00%),VEC明显增强了伤口的血管生成能力和炎症反应。该研究初步证实,mESC衍生的EPC定向诱导7 d后可分化为血管内皮细胞。此内皮细胞具有较好的组织修复功能,干细胞促进血管生成的生理途径有望成为组织重塑的新靶点。

Incorporation of a histone mutant with H3K56 site substitution perturbs the replication machinery in mouse embryonic stem cells

Sense mutations in several conserved modifiable sites of histone H3 have been found to be strongly correlated with multiple tissuespecific clinical cancers.These clinical site mutants acquire a distinctively new epigenetic role and mediate cancer evolution.In this study,we mimicked histone H3 at the 56th lysine(H3K56)mutant incorporation in mouse embryonic stem cells(mESCs)by lentivirus-mediated ectopic expression and analyzed the effects on replication and epigenetic regulation.The data show that two types of H3K56 mutants,namely H3 lysine 56-to-methionine(H3K56M)and H3 lysine 56-to-alanine(H3K56A),promote replication by recruiting more minichromosome maintenance complex component 3 and checkpoint kinase 1 onto chromatin compared with wild-type histone H3 and other site substitution mutants.Under this condition,the frequency of genomic copy number gain in H3K56M and H3K56A cells globally increases,especially in the Mycl1 region,a known molecular marker frequently occurring in multiple malignant cancers.Additionally,we found the disruption of H3K56 acetylation distribution in the copy-gain regions,which indicates a probable epigenetic mechanism of H3K56M and H3K56A.We then identified that H3K56M and H3K56A can trigger a potential adaptation to transcription;genes involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway are partially upregulated,whereas genes associated with intrinsic apoptotic function show obvious downregulation.The final outcome of ectopic H3K56M and H3K56A incorporation in mESCs is an enhanced ability to form carcinomas.This work indicates that H3K56 site conservation and proper modification play important roles in harmonizing the function of the replication machinery in mESCs.

Propofol inhibits neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells in vitro

Propofol （2, 6-diisopropylphenol） is a general intravenous anesthetic which plays roles in the central neural system by binding GABAA receptors （GABAARs） and enhancing the chloride channels of the neurons.1 Previous studies mainly focused on the effects of anesthetics on mature neurons, but little attention was paid to their role in early neural differentiation or neural stem cells. Therefore, in the present study, we choose the widely used mouse embryonic cells （ES） cells as the model to investigate the potential effect ofpropofol on neuronal differentiation.

Nanog reporter system in mouse embryonic stem cells based on highly efficient BAC homologous recombination

Nanog is a novel transcription factor specifically expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells (mES cells). It has been reported that Nanog plays an essential role in maintaining multi-potency of ES cells. The expression of Nanog is very sensitive to ES cells differentiation, making Nanog one of the best markers to indicate the status of ES cells. In this study, we developed an efficient method to construct Nanog promoter driven EGFP reporter system based on the BAC homologous recombination. We further generated a Nanog-EGFP reporter mES cell line. This reporter mES cell line exhibited features similar to those of normal mES cells, and the EGFP reporter efficiently reflected the expression of Nanog, indi- cating the differentiation status of mES cells. We achieved a reliable experimental reporter system to research self-renewal and differentiation of mES cells. The system could facilitate research on culture system of mES cells and researches on the expression and regulation of Nanog and other related fac- tors in mES cells.

基于CRISPR/Cas9n技术建立携带mT-F2A-EGFP报告系统的小鼠胚胎干细胞系

目的·通过CRISPR/Cas9n(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 nickase)介导的同源定向修复(homologous-directed repair,HDR)技术在小鼠胚胎干细胞(mouse embryonic stem cell,mESC)的中内胚层关键调控分子T-box转录因子Brachyury(即T基因)末端依次敲入手足口病毒2A(foot-and-mouth disease virus 2A,F2A)和增强绿色荧光蛋白(enhanced green fluorescent protein,EGFP)以建立T荧光报告细胞系(mTF2A-EGFP)。方法·首先,针对T基因构建特异性单链导向RNA(single guide RNA,sgRNA)质粒和包含F2A-EGFP的供体质粒。利用电穿孔将这2种质粒递送到mESC E14Tg2a(E14)内,通过HDR在T基因末端插入F2A-EGFP。然后,通过药物筛选和基因测序验证所获得的单克隆细胞,并将其诱导形成类胚体(embryonic body,EB)进行分化。通过荧光显微镜和流式细胞技术分别监测mT-F2A-EGFP细胞克隆在分化前后的荧光信号变化,并进行实时定量聚合酶链反应(real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction,RT-qPCR)来检测多能性标志基因、中内胚层以及外胚层标志基因的转录水平变化。同时,检测克隆细胞的周期、生长曲线,并利用碱性磷酸酶(alkaline phosphatase,AP)染色检测候选克隆干细胞特性。最后,挑选克隆细胞系T1进行了EB分化。利用流式细胞技术分选出分化细胞群中EGFP荧光表达细胞(EGFP+)和无荧光表达的细胞(EGFP-),并检测各谱系基因的表达情况。结果·EGFP被正确插入到E14细胞的T基因,其荧光强度能正确反映T基因表达水平且未产生明显的不良反应。当T1报告克隆分化时,通过流式细胞技术分选出的包含mT-F2A-EGFP的荧光细胞主要高表达中内胚层标志基因。结论·成功构建携带mT-F2A-EGFP的mESC,可实现对T基因调控程度的快速监测,并实时追踪分化过程中表达T基因标记EGFP的中内胚层细胞。

Effects of salvianolic acid B on proliferation, neurite outgrowth and differentiation of neural stem cells derived from the cerebral cortex of embryonic mice

Salvianolic acid B is isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza,the root of which is widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine to treat stroke.However,little is known about how salvianolic acid B influences growth characteristics of neural stem cells (NSCs).The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of salvianolic acid B on proliferation,neurite outgrowth and differentiation of NSCs derived from the cerebral cortex of embryonic mice using MTT,flow cytometry,immunofluorescence and RT-PCR.It was found that 20 μg mL·1 and 40 μg mL·1 salvianolic acid B had similar effects on proliferation of NSCs,and a suitable concentration of salvianolic acid B increased the number of NSCs and their derivative neurospheres.The growth-promoting activity of salvianolic acid B was dependent on and associated with an accumulation in the G2/S-phase cell population.Salvianolic acid B also promoted the neurite outgrowth of NSCs and their differentiation into neurons.The mRNA for tau,GFAP and nestin were present in differentiating neurospheres induced by salvianolic acid B.However,high-level expression of tau mRNA and low-level expression of GFAP mRNA was detected in differentiated cells,in contrast to the control conditions.This collective evidence indicates that exogenous salvianolic acid B is capable of promoting proliferation of neurospheres and differentiation towards the neuronal lineage in vitro and may act in the proliferation of NSCs and may promote NSC differentiation into neuronal cells.