Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yumei Jia, Zhaoyuan Guo, Jiahao Zhu, Guanyu Qin, Wenwen Sun, Yu Yin, Haiying Wang, Renpeng Guo
Summary: The study shows that Snap29 plays a crucial role in the self-renewal and differentiation of mouse ESCs. Depletion of Snap29 does not affect the self-renewal and pluripotency-associated factor expression in ESCs, but enhances their differentiation into cardiomyocytes. Transcriptome analysis reveals that Snap29 deficiency significantly decreases the expression of genes required for germ layer differentiation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Andrea Lauria, Guohua Meng, Valentina Proserpio, Stefania Rapelli, Mara Maldotti, Isabelle Laurence Polignano, Francesca Anselmi, Danny Incarnato, Anna Krepelova, Daniela Donna, Chiara Levra Levron, Giacomo Donati, Ivan Molineris, Francesco Neri, Salvatore Oliviero
Summary: The establishment of DNA methylation patterns during mouse early development is crucial for cell fate determination. However, the specific molecular targets and mechanisms of de novo methylation machinery during differentiation are not fully understood. In this study, the researchers identified DNMT3B-dependent regulatory elements that play a critical role in cell fate determination. They found that DNMT3B-dependent DNA methylation is essential for proper differentiation and lineage determination, and ectopic expression of DNMT3B can restore normal gene expression and cell fate. This study provides important insights into the role of DNA methylation in early development and cell fate determination.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Xinpeng Wen, Zesong Lin, Hao Wu, Lanrui Cao, Xudong Fu
Summary: In this study, the researchers identified a novel regulator, Zfp281, for the pluripotent-to-totipotent transition in mouse embryonic stem cells. They found that Zfp281 inhibits the transition by repressing transcripts upregulated during the 2C-like transition, and this inhibitory effect leads to impaired 2C-like transition ability in primed-state cells.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yingjie Hang, Xiaoliang Ma, Chunxiao Liu, Siyuan Li, Sixuan Zhang, Ruyan Feng, Qianwen Shang, Qi Liu, Zhaozhao Ding, Xiaoyi Zhang, Liyin Yu, Qiang Lu, Changshun Shao, Hong Chen, Yufang Shi, Jiuyang He, David L. Kaplan
Summary: The development of anisotropic silk protein nanofiber-based hydrogels enables mouse embryonic stem cells to maintain stemness in vitro without the need for leukemia inhibitory factor and mouse embryonic fibroblasts, resulting in superior pluripotency and genetic stability. The hydrogels establish an improved dynamic niche that stimulates autocrine factor secretion and maintains pluripotency and propagation of ESCs, offering a simple and cost-effective option for expansion and utility of ESCs in research and therapy, while providing insights into early mammalian embryogenesis.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Masaki Kinoshita, Meng Amy Li, Michael Barber, William Mansfield, Sabine Dietmann, Austin Smith
Summary: Genome remethylation is crucial for mammalian development, with a study showing that deficiencies in Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b lead to ES cells developing into trophoblast cells due to failed suppression of Ascl2. Regulating the expression of Ascl2 can impact the transdifferentiation and contribution of ES cells.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Md Mahfuz Al Mamun, Muhammad Riaz Khan, Yifu Zhu, Yuwei Zhang, Shuai Zhou, Ran Xu, Ihtisham Bukhari, Rick F. Thorne, Jinming Li, Xu Dong Zhang, Guangzhi Liu, Song Chen, Mian Wu, Xiaoyuan Song
Summary: This study identifies the E3 ubiquitin ligase Stub1 as a negative regulator of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Stub1 catalyzes the degradation of Sox2, Oct4, and Nanog proteins, thereby reducing pluripotency. Deficiency of Stub1 enhances somatic cell reprogramming and delays differentiation, while its overexpression triggers ESC differentiation.
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Jiaqi Wang, Yi Huang, Chen Zhang, Yan Ruan, Yanping Tian, Fengsheng Wang, Yixiao Xu, Meng Yu, Jiangjun Wang, Yuda Cheng, Lianlian Liu, Ran Yang, Jiali Wang, Yi Yang, Jiaxiang Xiong, Yan Hu, Rui Jian, Bing Ni, Wei Wu, Junlei Zhang
Summary: Dax1 is an important component of the transcription factor network in pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). This study identified 18 new splice variants of Dax1 and compared their protein structures with known Dax1 protein. The expression pattern analysis showed that these novel isoforms were cotranscribed with the known Dax1 protein in ESCs, but exhibited transcriptional heterogeneity and different subcellular localization of the encoded proteins.
STEM CELLS AND DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tee Udomlumleart, Sofia Hu, Salil Garg
Summary: Research suggests that some highly dynamic ESC lineages do not exhibit Markovian properties, with previous states and kin relations influencing future choices. Surprisingly, the distribution of lineages among states remains constant over time, contradicting predictions from a Markov model. Highly dynamic ESC lineages also show skewed cell fate distributions post differentiation.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arun Kumar Burramsetty, Ken Nishimura, Takumi Kishimoto, Muhammad Hamzah, Akihiro Kuno, Aya Fukuda, Koji Hisatake
Summary: This study identified and characterized proteins associated with the Nanog promoter in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) using unbiased methods. The results revealed the importance of these proteins, including RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), in the maintenance of pluripotency and the reprogramming of somatic cells. The findings highlight the functional relevance of RBPs in ESC differentiation and somatic cell reprogramming.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniel Olivieri, Eleonora Castelli, Yumiko K. Kawamura, Panagiotis Papasaikas, Ilya Lukonin, Melanie Rittirsch, Daniel Hess, Sebastien A. Smallwood, Michael B. Stadler, Antoine H. F. M. Peters, Joerg Betschinger
Summary: Mouse embryonic stem cells are biased towards producing embryonic endoderm rather than extraembryonic endoderm, which is regulated by transcriptional repressors Hdac3 and Dax1. Pluripotency factors Nr5a2 and Esrrb promote cell type conversion, and perturbation of the barrier extends mESC potency. This study shows that transcriptional repressors stabilize pluripotency by biasing the equilibrium between embryonic and extraembryonic lineages in mESCs.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bercin K. Cenik, Christie C. Sze, Caila A. Ryan, Siddhartha Das, Kaixiang Cao, Delphine Douillet, Emily J. Rendleman, Didi Zha, Nabiha Haleema Khan, Elizabeth Bartom, Ali Shilatifard
Summary: This study reveals that Set1A/COMPASS and ING5 may play crucial roles in regulating the self-renewal and differentiation status of ESCs.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Sue Yu, Jia Li, Guanxu Ji, Zhen Long Ng, Jiamin Siew, Wan Ning Lo, Ying Ye, Yuan Yuan Chew, Yun Chau Long, Wensheng Zhang, Ernesto Guccione, Yuin Han Loh, Zhi-Hong Jiang, Henry Yang, Qiang Wu
Summary: Chromatin modification is crucial for pluripotency maintenance in embryonic stem cells. Npac, a reader of H3K36me3, is essential for the transcriptional elongation of pluripotency genes by interacting with RNA Pol II and positive transcription elongation factor b.
GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS
(2022)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Mijo Simunovic, Eric D. Siggia, Ali H. Brivanlou
Summary: Due to technical and ethical limitations, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms surrounding human embryo implantation and gastrulation is limited. Researchers have proposed alternative methods, such as differentiating embryonic stem cells, to simulate aspects of human embryogenesis. However, modeling post-attachment events remains challenging. In this study, the authors suggest a strategy to assemble pre-formed epithelial epiblast and extraembryonic cells, allowing them to self-organize into a structure that mimics the attached human embryo, facilitating the study of post-attachment development.
Article
Cell Biology
Anderson Tan, Renuka Prasad, Eek-hoon Jho
Summary: TFEB plays a crucial role in mESCs by regulating PTN to maintain pluripotency, with interactions involving Nanog and Sox2. While high levels of TFEB are expected to enhance autophagy-lysosomal activity, undifferentiated mESCs surprisingly display low basal levels.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yahong Wu, Weiwei Zhang
Summary: Pluripotent stem cells, including ESCs and iPSCs, are crucial for studying early development and treating diseases, with ubiquitination playing a key role in pluripotency regulation, particularly through the actions of E3 ligases.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)