Project description:The pluripotency of mammalian early and late epiblast could be recapitulated by naïve embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and primed epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), respectively. However, these two states of pluripotency may not be sufficient to reflect the full complexity and developmental potency of the epiblast during mammalian early development. Here we report the establishment of self-renewing formative pluripotent stem cells (fPSCs) which manifest features of epiblast cells poised for gastrulation. fPSCs can be established from different mouse ESCs, pre-/early-gastrula epiblasts and induced PSCs. Similar to pre-/early-gastrula epiblasts, fPSCs show the transcriptomic features of formative pluripotency, which are distinct from naïve ESCs and primed EpiSCs. fPSCs show the unique epigenetic states of E6.5 epiblast, including the super-bivalency of a large set of developmental genes. Just like epiblast cells immediately before gastrulation, fPSCs can efficiently differentiate into three germ layers and primordial germ cells (PGCs) in vitro. Thus, fPSCs highlight the feasibility of using PSCs to explore the development of mammalian epiblast.
Project description:Epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) were derived from the epiblast or the ectoderm (epi/ect) of pre-gastrula stage to late-bud stage mouse embryos. To identify if the EpiSCs retain any original stage specific characteristics or which developmental stage of epi/ect they most closely related to, we performed microarray analysis to compare the gene expression profile of multiple EpiSC lines with that of epi/ect of 7 different stages.
Project description:To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the reprogramming of epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) into embryonic stem cells (ESCs) induced by Esrrb, we performed ChIP-seq analysis of Esrrb, Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2 in Tet-on Esrrb EpiSCs after treatment with doxycycline (Dox).
Project description:In this study, we show that by simple modulation of extrinsic signaling pathways, a new class of pluripotent stem cells, referred to as region selective epiblast stem cells (rsEpiSCs), could be efficiently derived from different stages of the early embryo. rsEpiSCs share features of primed pluripotency yet are distinct from EpiSCs in their molecular characteristics and ability to colonize post-implantation embryos. We performed whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) experiments to compare the DNA methylation landscapes of conventional EpiSCs and rsEpiSCs. Compare the DNA methylation profiles in 2 pluripotent stem cell types (LP-EpiSCs and conventional EpiSCs) in mouse. Two replicates are examined for each cell type.
Project description:To characterize the reprogramming of epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) into embryonic stem cells (ESCs) induced by Esrrb, we performed microarray analysis of Tet-on Esrrb EpiSCs after treatment with doxycycline (Dox).
Project description:Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) comprise at least two populations of cells with divergent states of pluripotency. Here, we show that epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) also comprise two distinct cell populations that can be distinguished by the expression of a specific Oct4-GFP marker. These two subpopulations, Oct4-GFP positive and negative EpiSCs, are capable of converting into each other in vitro. Oct4-GFP positive and negative EpiSCs are distinct from ESCs with respect to global gene expression pattern, epigenetic profile, and Oct4 enhancer utilization. Oct4-GFP negative cells share features with cells of the late mouse epiblast and cannot form chimeras. However, Oct4-GFP positive EpiSCs, which only represent a minor EpiSC fraction, resemble cells of the early epiblast and can readily contribute to chimeras. Our findings suggest that the rare ability of EpiSCs to contribute to chimeras is due to the presence of the minor EpiSC fraction representing the early epiblast.
Project description:Epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) were placed in the epiblastic cell maintenance condition (EpiSC) or in a neural plate developmental condition (Iwafuchi-Doi et al. Dev Biol 352, 354-366, 2011) for one (NPC1) or two (NPC2) days, and expression profiles of total mRNAs were compared.
Project description:Pluripotent stem cell lines can be derived from blastocyst embryos, which yield embryonic stem cell lines (ES cells), as well as the post-implantation epiblast, which gives rise to epiblast stem cell lines (EpiSCs). Remarkably, ES cells and EpiSCs display profound differences in the combination of growth factors that maintain their pluripotent state. Molecular and functional differences between these two stem cell types demonstrate that the tissue of origin and/or the growth factor milieu may be important determinants of the stem cell identity. We explored how developmental stage of the tissue of origin and culture growth factor conditions affect the stem cell pluripotent state. Our findings reveal that novel stem cell lines can be generated from blastocyst embryos with unique functional and molecular properties. We demonstrate that the culture growth factor environment and cell-cell interaction play a critical role in defining several unique and stable stem cell ground states. Keywords: Clonal analysis of FAB-SC gene expression Cell type characterization - 3 separate single cell clones