Lack of vimentin impairs endothelial differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

ABSTRACT: The cytoskeletal filament vimentin is inherent to the endothelial phenotype and is critical for the proper function of endothelial cells in adult mice. It is unclear, however, if the presence of vimentin is necessary during differentiation to the endothelial phenotype. Here we evaluated gene and protein expression of differentiating wild type embryonic stem cells (WT ESCs) and vimentin knockout embryonic stem cells (VIM -/- ESCs) using embryoid bodies (EBs) formed from both cell types. Over seven days of differentiation VIM -/- EBs had altered morphology compared to WT EBs, with a rippled outer surface and a smaller size due to decreased proliferation. Gene expression of pluripotency markers decreased similarly for EBs of both cell types; however, VIM -/- EBs had impaired differentiation t

SUBMITTER: Boraas LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4969593 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature