Heparan sulfate regulates the fate decisions of human pluripotent stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Heparan sulfate (HS) is an anionic polysaccharide generated by all animal cells, but our understanding of its roles in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) self-renewal and differentiation is limited. We derived HS-deficient hPSCs by disrupting the EXT1 glycosyltransferase. These EXT1^-/- hPSCs maintain self-renewal and pluripotency under standard culture conditions that contain high levels of basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF), a requirement for sufficient bFGF signaling in the engineered cells. Intriguingly, Activin/Nodal signaling is also compromised in EXT1^-/- hPSCs, highlighting HS's previously unexplored involvement in this pathway. As a result, EXT1^-/- hPSCs fail to differentiate into mesoderm or endoderm lineages. Unexpectedly, HS is dispensable for

SUBMITTER: Syangtan D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11784485 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature