Directed differentiation and mass cultivation of pure erythroid progenitors from mouse embryonic stem cells

Abstract Differentiating embryonic stem (ES) cells are an increasingly important source of hematopoietic progenitors, useful for both basic research and clinical applications. Besides their characterization in colony assays, protocols exist for the cultivation of lymphoid, myeloid, and erythroid cells. With the possible exception of mast cells, however, long-term expansion of pure hematopoietic progenitors from ES cells has not been possible without immortalization caused by overexpression of exogenous genes. Here, we describe for the first time an efficient yet easy strategy to generate mass cultures of pure, immature erythroid progenitors from mouse ES cells (ES-EPs), using serum-free medium plus recombinant cytokines and hormones. ES-EPs represent long-lived, adult, definitive erythroid progenitors that resemble immature erythroid cells expanding in vivo during stress erythropoiesis. When exposed to terminal differentiation conditions, ES-EPs differentiated into mature, enucleated erythrocytes. Importantly, ES-EPs injected into mice did not exhibit tumorigenic potential but differentiated into normal erythrocytes. Both the virtually unlimited supply of cells and the defined culture conditions render our system a valuable tool for the analysis of factors influencing proliferation and maturation of erythroid progenitors. In addition, the system allows detailed characterization of processes during erythroid proliferation and differentiation using wild-type (wt) and genetically modified ES cells.

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GATA-1 Regulates Growth and Differentiation of Definitive Erythroid Lineage Cells During In Vitro ES Cell Differentiation

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v92.11.4108 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 92 (11) ◽

pp. 4108-4118 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Naruyoshi Suwabe ◽

Satoru Takahashi ◽

Toru Nakano ◽

Masayuki Yamamoto

Keyword(s):

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Erythroid Cells ◽

Es Cell ◽

Globin Mrna ◽

Differentiated Cells ◽

Vitro Analysis ◽

Definitive Hematopoiesis

Abstract Although the importance of GATA-1 in both primitive and definitive hematopoietic lineages has been shown in vivo, the precise roles played by GATA-1 during definitive hematopoiesis have not yet been clarified. In vitro differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells using OP9 stroma cells can generate primitive and definitive hematopoietic cells separately, and we have introduced a method that separates hematopoietic progenitors and differentiated cells produced in this system. Closer examination showed that the expression of erythroid transcription factors in this system is regulated in a differentiation stage-specific manner. Therefore, we examined differentiation of GATA-1 promoter-disrupted (GATA-1.05) ES cells using this system. Because the GATA-1.05 mice die by 12.5 embryonic days due to the lack of primitive hematopoiesis, the in vitro analysis is an important approach to elucidate the roles of GATA-1 in definitive hematopoiesis. Consistent with the in vivo observation, differentiation of GATA-1.05 mutant ES cells along both primitive and definitive lineages was arrested in this ES cell culture system. Although the maturation-arrested primitive lineage cells did not express detectable amounts of ɛy-globin mRNA, the blastlike cells accumulated in the definitive stage showed β-globin mRNA expression at approximately 70% of the wild type. Importantly, the TER119 antigen was expressed and porphyrin was accumulated in the definitive cells, although the levels of both were reduced to approximately 10%, indicating that maturation of definitive erythroid cells is arrested by the lack of GATA-1 with different timing from that of the primitive erythroid cells. We also found that the hematopoietic progenitor fraction of GATA-1.05 cells contains more colony-forming activity, termed CFU-OP9. These results suggest that theGATA-1.05 mutation resulted in proliferation of proerythroblasts in the definitive lineage.

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Hematopoietic Cell Differentiation from Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) Embryonic Stem Cells by Their Genetic Manipulation Using the Third Generation Lentiviral Vector.

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v104.11.495.495 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 104 (11) ◽

pp. 495-495

Author(s):

Ryo Kurita ◽

Erika Sasaki ◽

Takashi Hiroyama ◽

Tomoko Yokoo ◽

Yukoh Nakazaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Therapy ◽

Es Cells ◽

Hematopoietic Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Culture Conditions ◽

Preclinical Studies ◽

Es Cell ◽

Hematopoietic Stem

Abstract Since the successful establishment of human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines in 1998, transplantation of differentiated ES cells to specific organ has been expected to complete its defective function. For the realistic medicine, the preclinical studies using animal model systems including non-human primates are essential. We have already demonstrated that non-human primates of common marmosets (CM) are suitable for the laboratory animal models for preclinical studies of hematopoietic stem cell therapy. In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo differentiation of CM ES cells to hematopoietic cells by exogenous gene transfer methods in order to study the feasibility of future gene modified ES cell therapy. First, we tried various in vitro culture conditions including systems using embryoid bodies or co-culturing with stromal cells to induce hematopoietic cells, but the frequency of inducing hematopoietic cells was very low. The expression of CD45 and gata1 could not be detected in both conditions, suggesting that our culture conditions were incomplete for induction of hematopoietic cells from CM ES cells. Next we examined gene transduction methods by using VSV-G pseudotyped human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vectors. We constructed the HIV vectors containing hematopoietic genes such as tal1/scl, gata1, gata2, hoxB4 and Lh2 genes under the EF1a promoter and transduced them into CM ES cells. Only in the case of tal1/scl overexpression, not other genes, hematopoietic induction from CM ES cells was dramatically increased and multi-lineage blood cells consisting of erythroid cells, granulocytes, macrophages and megakaryocytes, were confirmed by immunochemical and morphological analyses. Furthermore, RT-PCR results showed that several hematopoietic marker genes including CD34 were expressed higher in the tal1/scl overexpressed ES-derived cells. After the xenotransplantation of ES-derived cells into the immunodeficient mice, CM CD45+ cells and immature erythroids and megakaryocytic cells were observed only in the ES-tal1-injected mice, indicating that enforced expression of tal1/scl into ES cells led to highly efficient hematopoietic cell differentiation in vivo. Taken together, it was suggested that the transduction of exogenous tal1/scl cDNA into ES cells by HIV vector was the promising method for the efficient differentiation from CM ES cells to hematopoietic stem cells. Further examinations are required to determine the long-term hematopoietic reconstitute capacity and the safety of the tal1/scl transduced ES cells in marmoset for the purpose of developing new hematopoietic stem cell therapy.

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Thrombopoietin Enhances Proliferation and Differentiation of Murine Yolk Sac Erythroid Progenitors

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v89.4.1207 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 89 (4) ◽

pp. 1207-1213 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Takumi Era ◽

Tomomi Takahashi ◽

Katsuya Sakai ◽

Kazuo Kawamura ◽

Toru Nakano

Keyword(s):

Colony Formation ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Yolk Sac ◽

In Vitro Differentiation ◽

Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽

Erythroid Progenitors ◽

Proliferation And Differentiation ◽

Differentiation Status

Abstract Thrombopoietin (TPO), the ligand for the receptor proto-oncogene c-Mpl, has been cloned and shown to be the critical regulator of proliferation and differentiation of megakaryocytic lineage. Initially, TPO was not considered to have the activity on hematopoietic lineages other than megakaryocytes. Recently, however, TPO was reported to enhance the in vitro erythroid colony formation from human bone marrow (BM) CD34+ progenitors or from mouse BM cells in combination with other cytokines. We examined the effects of TPO on the colony formation of hematopoietic progenitors in mouse yolk sac. TPO remarkably enhanced proliferation and differentiation of erythroid-lineage cells in the presence of erythropoietin (Epo). This effect was observed even in the absence of Epo. Compared with adult BM, yolk sac turned out to have relatively abundant erythroid and erythro-megakaryocytic progenitors, which responded to TPO and Epo stimulation. TPO similarly stimulated erythroid colony formation from in vitro differentiation-induced mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells whose hematopoietic differentiation status was similar to that of yolk sac. These findings help to understand the biology of hematopoietic progenitors of the early phase of hematopoiesis. Yolk sac cells or in vitro differentiation-induced ES cells would be good sources to analyze the TPO function on erythropoiesis.

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220 NONHUMAN PRIMATE EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS SIMILAR TO THE BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF MOUSE EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

Reproduction Fertility and Development ◽

10.1071/rdv24n1ab220 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 222

Author(s):

A. Kusanagi ◽

J. Yamasaki ◽

C. Iwatani ◽

H. Tsuchiya ◽

R. Torii

Keyword(s):

Nonhuman Primate ◽

Cynomolgus Monkey ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Biological Properties ◽

Es Cell ◽

Mouse Es Cells ◽

Mouse Es Cell

Human and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from the inner cell mass of preimplantation blastocysts and human ES cells were long thought to be equivalent to mouse ES cells, despite clear morphological difference and different signalling pathways to maintain their pluripotency between these two ES cell types. Mouse ES cells depend on leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4) signalling, whereas their human counterparts rely on basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and activin A signalling. The biggest difference of two ES cells is the ability of chimera formation and mouse ES cells can contribute chimera but primate ES cells fails to do that. Monkey ES cells in primates only can be tested for chimera formation in vivo due to the ethical issue and cynomolgus monkey is the most common nonhuman primate to be used for the safety study of drug discoveries. The objective of this study was to develop novel cynomolgus monkey ES cells that have similar biological properties with mouse ES cell and our ultimate goal is to establish germline competent nonhuman primate ES cells. Ovarian stimulation and oocyte collection were carried out for the derivation of ES cells as previously described by Torii et al. Briefly, GnRH (0.9 mg/head) was administered to cynomolgus monkey and two weeks later, a micro infusion pump (iPRECIO™, Primetech Corp) contains FSH was implanted subcutaneously. Follicular aspiration was then performed 40 h after hCG injection and metaphase II oocytes were fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Cynomolgus monkey ES cells were then established under mouse ES cell conditions such as LIF/STAT signalling and a dome tree-dimensional (3D) morphology nonhuman primate ES cells were selected. On the other hands, ES cells that were established with the presence of basic FGF showed conventional layer-type morphology. Dome-type ES cells express pluripotent transcriptional factors such as Oct-3/4, Nonog and Sox2 as same as layer-type ES cells and both ES lines were capable of multilineage differentiations in vitro after embryoid body formation. Dome-type nonhuman ES cells can also form teratomas and differentiated into all three germ layers when grafted into immunodeficiency mice. For fluorescent gene delivery to nonhuman primate ES cells, feeder-free condition was applied and CAG-GFP vector was transfected into ES cells using Neon electroporation system (Invitrogen Inc.) for the tracing ES cells in the transplantation study. In this study, we have established dome-type ES cell lines that similar to mouse ES cells in morphology and signalling pathway. Dome-type nonhuman primate ES cells express pluripotent gene markers and prove their pluripotency both of in vitro and in vivo, in addition, these modifications would be important to create germline competent ES cells.

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Inducible Gata1 Suppression As a Novel Strategy to Expand Physiologic Megakaryocyte Production from Embryonic Stem Cells

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v124.21.3846.3846 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 124 (21) ◽

pp. 3846-3846

Author(s):

Ji-Yoon Noh ◽

Shilpa Gandre-Babbe ◽

Yuhuan Wang ◽

Vincent Hayes ◽

Yu Yao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Conflicts Of Interest ◽

Fetal Liver ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽

Erythroid Progenitors ◽

Transfusion Therapy ◽

Ips Cell

Abstract Embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells represent potential sources of megakaryocytes and platelets for transfusion therapy. However, most current ES/iPS cell differentiation protocols are limited by low yields of hematopoietic progeny, including platelet-releasing megakaryocytes. Mutations in the mouse and human genes encoding transcription factor GATA1 cause accumulation of proliferating, developmentally arrested megakaryocytes. Previously, we reported that in vitro differentiation of Gata1-null murine ES cells generated self-renewing hematopoietic progenitors termed G1ME cells that differentiated into erythroblasts and megakaryocytes upon restoration of Gata1 cDNA by retroviral transfer. However, terminal maturation of Gata1-rescued megakaryocytes was aberrant with immature morphology and no proplatelet formation, presumably due to non-physiological expression of GATA1. We now engineered wild type (WT) murine ES cells that express doxycycline (dox)-regulated Gata1 short hairpin (sh) RNAs to develop a strategy for Gata1-blockade that upon its release, restores physiologic GATA1 expression during megakaryopoiesis. In vitro hematopoietic differentiation of control scramble shRNA-expressing ES cells with dox and thrombopoietin (TPO) produced megakaryocytes that underwent senescence after 7 days. Under similar differentiation conditions, Gata1 shRNA-expressing ES cells produced immature hematopoietic progenitors, termed G1ME2 cells, which replicated continuously for more than 40 days, resulting in ~1013-fold expansion (N=4 separate experiments). Upon dox withdrawal with multi-lineage cytokines present (EPO, TPO, SCF, GMCSF and IL3), endogenous GATA1 expression was restored to G1ME2 cells followed by differentiation into erythroblasts and megakaryocytes, but no myeloid cells. In clonal methylcellulose assays, dox-deprived G1ME2 cells produced a mixture of erythroid, megakaryocytic and erythro-megakaryocytic colonies. In liquid culture with TPO alone, dox-deprived G1ME2 cells formed mature megakaryocytes in 5-6 days, as determined by morphology, ultrastructure, acetylcholinesterase staining, upregulated megakaryocytic gene expression (Vwf, Pf4, Gp1ba, Selp, Ppbp), CD42b surface expression, increased DNA ploidy and proplatelet production. Compared to G1ME cells rescued with Gata1 cDNA retrovirus, dox-deprived G1ME2 cells exhibited more robust megakaryocytic maturation, similar to that of megakaryocytes produced from cultured fetal liver. Importantly, G1ME2 cell-derived megakaryocytes generated proplatelets in vitro and functional platelets in vivo (~40 platelets/megakaryocyte with a circulating half life of 5-6 hours). These platelets were actively incorporated into growing arteriolar thrombi at sites of laser injury and subsequently expressed the platelet activation marker p-selectin (N=3-4 separate experiments). Our findings indicate that precise timing and magnitude of a transcription factor is required for proper terminal hematopoiesis. We illustrate this principle using a novel, readily reproducible strategy to expand ES cell-derived megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors and direct their differentiation into megakaryocytes and then into functional platelets in clinically relevant numbers. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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GATA-1 Regulates Growth and Differentiation of Definitive Erythroid Lineage Cells During In Vitro ES Cell Differentiation

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v92.11.4108.423k29_4108_4118 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 92 (11) ◽

pp. 4108-4118 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Naruyoshi Suwabe ◽

Satoru Takahashi ◽

Toru Nakano ◽

Masayuki Yamamoto

Keyword(s):

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Erythroid Cells ◽

Es Cell ◽

Globin Mrna ◽

Differentiated Cells ◽

Vitro Analysis ◽

Definitive Hematopoiesis

Although the importance of GATA-1 in both primitive and definitive hematopoietic lineages has been shown in vivo, the precise roles played by GATA-1 during definitive hematopoiesis have not yet been clarified. In vitro differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells using OP9 stroma cells can generate primitive and definitive hematopoietic cells separately, and we have introduced a method that separates hematopoietic progenitors and differentiated cells produced in this system. Closer examination showed that the expression of erythroid transcription factors in this system is regulated in a differentiation stage-specific manner. Therefore, we examined differentiation of GATA-1 promoter-disrupted (GATA-1.05) ES cells using this system. Because the GATA-1.05 mice die by 12.5 embryonic days due to the lack of primitive hematopoiesis, the in vitro analysis is an important approach to elucidate the roles of GATA-1 in definitive hematopoiesis. Consistent with the in vivo observation, differentiation of GATA-1.05 mutant ES cells along both primitive and definitive lineages was arrested in this ES cell culture system. Although the maturation-arrested primitive lineage cells did not express detectable amounts of ɛy-globin mRNA, the blastlike cells accumulated in the definitive stage showed β-globin mRNA expression at approximately 70% of the wild type. Importantly, the TER119 antigen was expressed and porphyrin was accumulated in the definitive cells, although the levels of both were reduced to approximately 10%, indicating that maturation of definitive erythroid cells is arrested by the lack of GATA-1 with different timing from that of the primitive erythroid cells. We also found that the hematopoietic progenitor fraction of GATA-1.05 cells contains more colony-forming activity, termed CFU-OP9. These results suggest that theGATA-1.05 mutation resulted in proliferation of proerythroblasts in the definitive lineage.

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Aberrant iron accumulation and oxidized status of erythroid-specific δ-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS2)–deficient definitive erythroblasts

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2002-01-0309 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 101 (3) ◽

pp. 1188-1193 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Hideo Harigae ◽

Osamu Nakajima ◽

Naruyoshi Suwabe ◽

Hisayuki Yokoyama ◽

Kazumichi Furuyama ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Nonheme Iron ◽

Iron Accumulation ◽

In Vivo Model ◽

Erythroid Cells ◽

Wild Type ◽

Aminolevulinate Synthase

Abstract Alas2 encodes the erythroid-specific δ-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS2 or ALAS-E), the first enzyme in heme biosynthesis in erythroid cells. Mice with theAlas2-null phenotype showed massive cytoplasmic, but not mitochondrial, iron accumulation in their primitive erythroblasts. Because these animals died by day 11.5 in utero, studies of iron metabolism in definitive erythroblasts were not possible using the in vivo model. In this study, embryonic stem (ES) cells lacking theAlas2 gene were induced to undergo differentiation to the definitive erythroblast stage in culture, and the phenotype ofAlas2-null definitive erythroblasts was examined.Alas2-null definitive erythroblasts cell pellets were entirely colorless due to a marked deficiency of heme, although their cell morphology was similar to that of the wild-type erythroblasts. The level of expression of erythroid-specific genes inAlas2-null definitive erythroblasts was also similar to that of the wild-type erythroblasts. These findings indicate thatAlas2-null definitive erythroblasts developed to a stage similar to that of the wild-type erythroblasts, which were also shown to be very similar to the bone marrow erythroblasts in vivo. In contrast, Alas2-null definitive erythroblasts contained 15 times more nonheme iron than did the wild-type erythroblasts, and electron microscopy found this iron to be distributed in the cytoplasm but not in mitochondria. Consistent with the aberrant increase in iron,Alas2-null definitive erythroblasts were more peroxidized than wild-type erythroblasts. These findings suggest that ALAS2 deficiency itself does not interfere with the development of definitive erythroid cells, but it results in a profound iron accumulation and a peroxidized state in erythroblasts.

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Modulation of hematopoietic and endothelial cell differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells by different culture conditions

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood-2004-04-1306 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 105 (1) ◽

pp. 111-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Wen Jie Zhang ◽

Changwon Park ◽

Elizabeth Arentson ◽

Kyunghee Choi

Keyword(s):

Endothelial Cell ◽

Cell Differentiation ◽

Fetal Liver ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Culture Conditions ◽

Embryoid Bodies ◽

Vascular Endothelial ◽

Hematopoietic Progenitors ◽

Endothelial Cell Differentiation

Abstract Embryonic stem (ES) cells can differentiate into many different somatic cells in culture. To better correlate hematopoietic and endothelial cell differentiation of ES cells in currently available protocols, we compared fetal liver kinase-1 (Flk-1)–, stem cell leukemia (Scl)–, and vascular endothelial–cadherin (VE-cadherin)–expressing cells generated in embryoid bodies (EBs) and on OP9 cells. We report that the kinetics of Scl and Flk-1 expression were similar in EBs and OP9 cells, although Flk-1 expression was extended on OP9 cells. CD45+ and Ter-119+ cells developed more efficiently in EBs, whereas VE-cadherin+ cells developed largely on OP9 cells. Cell sorting and replating studies showed that Scl+ cells, not Flk-1+ or VE-cadherin+ cells, were enriched for primitive and definitive hematopoietic progenitors. Our studies indicate that optimal hematopoietic and endothelial cell differentiation occur in EBs and on OP9 cells, respectively. Regardless of the culture systems used, Scl is the most relevant marker for enriching primitive and definitive hematopoietic progenitors.

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In Vivo Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells into Hepatocytes

Cell Transplantation ◽

10.3727/000000002783985792 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 359-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

Dongho Choi ◽

Hyun-Jeong Oh ◽

Uck-Jin Chang ◽

Soo Kyung Koo ◽

Jean X. Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Replacement Therapy ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Cell Replacement Therapy ◽

Differentiation Potential ◽

Cell Replacement ◽

Mouse Es Cells ◽

Cord Injury ◽

In Vivo Differentiation

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been regarded as a powerful resource for cell replacement therapy. In recent reports mouse ES cells have been successfully applied in the treatment of spinal cord injury, hereditary myelin disorder of the central nervous system, and diabetes mellitus. Another type of disease that could benefit from the availability of stem cell therapy is liver disease. However, for this potential to be realized, it is necessary to demonstrate the differentiation of ES cells into hepatocytes. To demonstrate the in vivo differentiation potential of mouse ES cells, we injected ES cells into the spleen of immunosuppressed nude mice. Histological analysis of teratomas derived from injected ES cells revealed that some areas contained typical hepatocytes arranged in a sinusoidal structure. The hepatic nature of these cells was further confirmed by showing that transcripts of liver-specific genes were present in the differentiated teratoma using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry using several liver-specific antibodies including HEP-PAR, phenylalanine hydroxylase, and mouse N-system aminotransferase to identify the respective proteins in the differentiated hepatocytes. This is the first demonstration that mouse ES cells can differentiate in vivo into a mixed population of hepatocytes of varying maturity. This finding extends the potential use of ES cells in the cell replacement therapy by including its possible application for treating liver diseases.

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Conserved and divergent features of DNA methylation in embryonic stem cell-derived neurons

10.1101/2020.01.08.898429 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sally Martin ◽

Daniel Poppe ◽

Nelly Olova ◽

Conor O’Leary ◽

Elena Ivanova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Es Cells ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Nuclear Lamina ◽

Neuronal Maturation ◽

Neuronal Marker ◽

Mouse Es Cells ◽

Primary Mouse

AbstractDNA methylation functions in genome regulation and is implicated in neuronal maturation. Early post-natal accumulation of atypical non-CG methylation (mCH) occurs in neurons of mice and humans, but its precise function remains unknown. Here we investigate mCH deposition in neurons derived from mouse ES-cells in vitro and in cultured primary mouse neurons. We find that both acquire comparable levels of mCH over a similar period as in vivo. In vitro mCH deposition occurs concurrently with a transient increase in Dnmt3a expression, is preceded by expression of the post-mitotic neuronal marker Rbfox3 (NeuN) and is enriched at the nuclear lamina. Despite these similarities, whole genome bisulfite sequencing reveals that mCH patterning in mESC-derived neurons partially differs from in vivo. mESC-derived neurons therefore represent a valuable model system for analyzing the mechanisms and functional consequences of correct and aberrantly deposited CG and non-CG methylation in neuronal maturation.

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