Reduced mitotic activity at the periphery of human embryonic stem cell colonies cultured in vitro with mitotically-inactivated murine embryonic fibroblast feeder cells

Roughness and dynamics of proliferating cell fronts as a probe of cell-cell interactions

Juxtacellular interactions play an essential but still not fully understood role in both normal tissue development and tumour invasion. Using proliferating cell fronts as a model system, we explore the effects of cell-cell interactions on the geometry and dynamics of these one-dimensional biological interfaces. We observe two distinct scaling regimes of the steady state roughness of in-vitro propagating Rat1 fibroblast cell fronts, suggesting different hierarchies of interactions at sub-cell lengthscales and at a lengthscale of 2-10 cells. Pharmacological modulation significantly affects the proliferation speed of the cell fronts, and those modulators that promote cell mobility or division also lead to the most rapid evolution of cell front roughness. By comparing our experimental observations to numerical simulations of elastic cell fronts with purely short-range interactions, we demonstrate that the interactions at few-cell lengthscales play a key role. Our methodology provides a simple framework to measure and characterise the biological effects of such interactions, and could be useful in tumour phenotyping.

Lengthened G1 phase indicates differentiation status in human embryonic stem cells

The cell cycle in pluripotent stem cells is notable for the brevity of the G1 phase, permitting rapid proliferation and reducing the duration of differentiation signal sensitivity associated with the G1 phase. Changes in the length of G1 phase are understood to accompany the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), but the timing and extent of such changes are poorly defined. Understanding the early steps governing the differentiation of hESCs will facilitate better control over differentiation for regenerative medicine and drug discovery applications. Here we report the first use of real-time cell cycle reporters in hESCs. We coexpressed the chromatin-decorating H2B-GFP fusion protein and the fluorescence ubiquitination cell cycle indicator (FUCCI)-G1 fusion protein, a G1 phase-specific reporter, in hESCs to measure the cell cycle status in live cells. We found that FUCCI-G1 expression is weakly detected in undifferentiated hESCs, but rapidly increases upon differentiation. hESCs in the G1 phase display a reduction in undifferentiated colony-initiating cell function, underscoring the relationship between G1 phase residence and differentiation. Importantly, we demonstrate inter- and intracolony variation in response to chemicals that induce differentiation, implying extensive cell-cell variation in the threshold necessary to alter the G1 phase length. Finally, gain of differentiation markers appears to be coincident with G1 phase lengthening, with distinct G1 phase profiles associated with different markers of early hESC differentiation. Our data demonstrate the tight coupling of cell cycle changes to hESC differentiation, and highlight the cell cycle reporter system and assays we have implemented as a novel avenue for investigating pluripotency and differentiation.

Random mitotic activities across human embryonic stem cell colonies

A systemic and quantitative study was performed to examine whether different levels of mitotic activities, assessed by the percentage of S-phase cells at any given time point, existed at different physical regions of human embryonic stem (hES) cell colonies at 2, 4, 6 days after cell passaging. Mitotically active cells were identified by the positive incorporation of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) within their newly synthesized DNA. Our data indicated that mitotically active cells were often distributed as clusters randomly across the colonies within the examined growth period, presumably resulting from local deposition of newly divided cells. This latter notion was further demonstrated by the confined growth of enhanced green florescence protein (EGFP) expressing cells amongst non-GFP expressing cells. Furthermore, the overall percentage of mitotically active cells remained constantly at about 50% throughout the 6-day culture period, indicating mitotic activities of hES cell cultures were time-independent under current growth conditions.

Hyaluronic acid hydrogel for controlled self-renewal and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Control of self-renewal and differentiation of human ES cells (hESCs) remains a challenge. This is largely due to the use of culture systems that involve poorly defined animal products and do not mimic the normal developmental milieu. Routine protocols involve the propagation of hESCs on mouse fibroblast or human feeder layers, enzymatic cell removal, and spontaneous differentiation in cultures of embryoid bodies, and each of these steps involves significant variability of culture conditions. We report that a completely synthetic hydrogel matrix can support (i) long-term self-renewal of hESCs in the presence of conditioned medium from mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers, and (ii) direct cell differentiation. Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels were selected because of the role of HA in early development and feeder layer cultures of hESCs and the controllability of hydrogel architecture, mechanics, and degradation. When encapsulated in 3D HA hydrogels (but not within other hydrogels or in monolayer cultures on HA), hESCs maintained their undifferentiated state, preserved their normal karyotype, and maintained their full differentiation capacity as indicated by embryoid body formation. Differentiation could be induced within the same hydrogel by simply altering soluble factors. We therefore propose that HA hydrogels, with their developmentally relevant composition and tunable physical properties, provide a unique microenvironment for the self-renewal and differentiation of hESCs.

Human Embryonic Stem Cells (HSF-6) Show Greater Proliferation and Apoptoses When Grown on Glioblastoma Cells Than Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts at Day 19 in Culture: Comparison of Proliferation, Survival, and Neural Differentiation on Two Different Feeder Cell Types

Recent years have seen a surge of scientific research examining the interdependence of one germ layer in the development of the other, both in vivo and in vitro. For example, the endoderm is believed to play a crucial role in the formation of mesoderm and subsequent maturation of cells belonging to the mesodermal lineage. Our understanding of this complex relationship is continuously growing with reinterpretation of earlier concepts and apprehension of newer hypotheses into the biology of embryonic development. Here we discuss some of the events governing the cooperative control of endoderm over mesoderm, and propose a perspective based on the existing literature and our own experience.