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Functions of calcineurin-NFAT signaling pathway in human embryonic stem cells

ABSTRACT: Calcineurin-NFAT signaling is associated with a wide range of biological processes and diseases. Our previous study showed that this pathway plays a critical role in mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) differentiation. However, its function in human ESCs (hESCs) remains unclear. Here, we report that expression of PPP3CC, the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of calcineurin, increases along with the process of hESC differentiation, and its knockdown (KD) enhances the self-renewal ability of hESCs with a simultaneous reduction in the expression of differentiation-associated markers regardless of culture conditions. Moreover, we observed that NFATC3 translocates from the cytoplasm to the nucleus when hESCs exit from a self-renewal state. These results indicate that calcineurin-NFAT signaling is activated and required during hESC differentiation. Mechanistically, we also found that in hESCs NFATC3 interacts with JUN， one of AP-1 complex subunit, and co-expression of exogenous NFATC3 and JUN upregulates lineage markers remarkably even under a self-renewal culture condition. Additionally, inhibition of this cascade represses MAPK signaling rapidly, including ERK1/2, JNK and P38. Taken together, this study delineates the importance of the calcineurin-NFATC3/JUN signaling cascade for the pluripotency maintenance of hESCs.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE155563 | GEO | 2020/08/04

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are recently characterized players that are involved in the regulatory circuitry of self-renewal in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). However, the specific roles of lncRNAs in this circuitry are poorly understood. Here, we determined that growth-arrest-specific transcript 5 (GAS5), which is a known tumor suppressor and growth arrest gene, is abundantly expressed in the cytoplasm of hESCs and essential for hESC self-renewal. GAS5 depletion in hESCs significantly impaired their pluripotency and self-renewal ability, whereas GAS5 overexpression in hESCs accelerated the cell cycle, enhanced their colony formation ability and increased pluripotency marker expression. By RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, we determined that GAS5 activates NODAL-SMAD2/3 signaling by sustaining the expression of NODAL, which plays a key role in hESC self-renewal but not in somatic cell growth. Further studies indicated that GAS5 functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to protect NODAL mRNA against degradation and that GAS5 transcription is directly controlled by the core pluripotency transcriptional factors (TFs). Taken together, we suggest that the core TFs, GAS5 and NODAL-SMAD2/3 form a feed-forward loop to maintain the hESC self-renewal process. These findings are specific to ESCs and did not occur in the somatic cell lines we tested; therefore, our findings also provide evidence that the functions of lncRNAs vary in different biological contexts. We analyzed long non-coding RNAs in two hESC cell lines (X-01 and H1), and found GAS5 is highly expressed and functional in maintaining hESC self-renewal. We generate stable overexpressed or knockdown hESC cell lines using lentiviral approach. We transfected cells initialy after passage, and lentiviruses are added with daily medium change for three days (at a final concentration of 10^5 IU/ml). Puromycin is added for selection and supplied with daily medium change. Stable cell lines are established after two passages and verified under fluorescence scope. Total RNAs and miRNAs are extracted separately of all three cell lines (LV-NC, LV-GAS5 and LV-shGAS5) and put to sequencing.

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Functions of calcineurin-NFAT signaling pathway in human embryonic stem cells

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