Project description:Trophectoderm-specific expression of Angiomotin (AMOT) in pre-implantation embryos followed by its unique expression in the post-implantation ectoplacental cone that harbors the trophoblast stem cell niche prompted our investigation on the function of AMOT in trophoblast cells. Using the in vitro trophoblast stem cell culture model, we established differentiation dependent up-regulation of AMOT expression in trophoblast cells. To understand the function of AMOT in trophoblast cells mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis was employed to identify the AMOT interactome within the trophoblast proteome. This approach utilized immunoprecipitation of endogenous AMOT followed by fractionation on SDS-PAGE and subsequently subjecting the tryptic digested excised gel bands to mass spectrometry.
Project description:This study aims to compare in vivo human trophoblast differentiation into EVTs to different in vitro trophoblast organoids using single-cell and single-nuclei RNA sequencing. The study includes two type of systems: human primary trophoblast organoids (PTO) and trophoblast stem cells (TSCs). Trophoblast stem cell (TSC) lines BTS5 and BTS11 derived by Okae and colleagues were grown as described previously (Okae et al. 2018) and together with EVT media. Primary trophoblast organoids (PTO) were grown and differentiated into EVT as previously described by Turco & Sheridan (Turco et al 2018; Sheridan et al 2020). This study shows that the main regulatory programs mediating EVT invasion in vivo are preserved in in vitro models of EVT differentiation from primary trophoblast organoids and trophoblast stem cells.
Project description:Porcine induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) could serve as a great model system for human stem cell pre-clinical research. However, the pluripotency gene network of piPSCs, especially the function for the core transcription factor ESRRB, was poorly understood. Here, we constructed ESRRB-overexpressing piPSCs (ESRRB-piPSCs). Compared with the control piPSCs (CON-piPSCs), the ESRRB-piPSCs showed flat, monolayered colony morphology. Moreover, the ESRRB-piPSCs showed greater chimeric capacity into trophectoderm than CON-piPSCs. We found that ESRRB could directly regulate the expressions of trophoblast stem cell (TSC)-specific markers, including KRT8, KRT18 and CDX2, through binding to their promoter regions. Mutational analysis proved that the N-terminus zinc finger domain is indispensable for ESRRB to regulate the TSC markers. Furthermore, this regulation needs the participation of OCT4. Accordingly, the cooperation between ESRRB and OCT4 facilitates the conversion from pluripotent state to the trophoblast-like state.
Project description:The role of microRNAs (miRNA) in first cell fate choice of the preimplantation mouse embryo remains unresolved, as gene expression and knockout data are conflicting. This cell fate choice generates the extraembryonic lineage of the trophoblast and the embryonic lineage of the epiblast (inner cell mass). The trophoblast differentiates into polar and mural cells, where polar cells contribute to placental development and mural cells to the implantation process and Reichert’s membrane. The inner cell mass further differentiates into the epiblast and primitive endoderm. We used stem cell lines that can be derived from the trophoblast and epiblast lineages to address the role of miRNAs in early lineage cell fate specification and determination. Using embryonic stem cells (ESC) and trophoblast stem cells (TSC) as starting and ending states of cell development we identified a network of TSC expressed miRNAs that are enriched in ESC targets mRNA. We used constitutive and inducible expression of TSC enriched miRNAs in ESC and show that they can drive cell morphology and gene expression profiles similar to trophoblast. Additionally we show that this process required HDAC2 inhibition and is miRNA specific, as cardiac specific miR-1 could not induce trophoblast under these conditions. In contrast to embryo derived and Cdx2 induced trophoblast cells, miRNAs promote a mural TE like cell phenotype. Transplantation into preimplantation mouse embryos showed that miRNA-induced trophoblast preferentially contributes to the mural trophoblast in both the blastocyst and the Reichert’s membrane. Our data support a role for miRNAs and HDACs in the specification of the trophoblast and potentially the polar and mural cell types.
Project description:Stem cells reside in specific niches providing stemness-maintaining environments. Thus, the regulated migration from these niches is associated with differentiation onset. However, mechanisms retaining stem cells in their niche remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the epigenetic regulator lysine-specific demethylase 1 (Lsd1) organises the trophoblast niche of the early mouse embryo by coordinating migration and invasion of trophoblast stem cells (TSCs). Lsd1 deficiency leads to the depletion of the stem cell pool resulting from precocious migration of TSCs. Migration is induced by premature expression of the transcription factor Ovol2 that is repressed by Lsd1 in undifferentiated wild-type TSCs. Increasing Ovol2 levels suffices to recapitulate the migration phenotype. Furthermore, Lsd1-deficient TSCs exhibit a developmental bias towards cells of the syncytiotrophoblast and impaired spongiotrophoblast and trophoblast giant cell differentiation. In summary, we describe that the epigenetic modifier Lsd1 coordinates placental development by retaining TSCs in their niche and directing trophoblast differentiation. Mouse trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) were isoloated from a single conditional Lsd1-deficient mouse (Lsd1tm1SchM-CM-<le). Deletion of Lsd1 was induced eight days before the collection of RNA by addition of 0.2 M-BM-5M 4OH-tamoxife. Cells were isolated at successive stages of differentiation for total RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. To that end, we harvested cells at three time-points: before induction of differentiation (d0), two days after induction of differentiation (d2), and four days after induction of differentiation (d4). Three replicates (1, 2, 3) for control (-) and Lsd1-deficeint (+) cells were included for each differentiation stage.