Uncovering the true identity of naïve pluripotent stem cells

Synthesis and biomedical applications of mucin mimic materials

Mucin glycoproteins are the major component of mucus and coat epithelial cell surfaces forming the glycocalyx. The glycocalyx and mucus are involved in the transport of nutrients, drugs, gases, and pathogens toward the cell surface. Mucins are also involved in diverse diseases such as cystic fibrosis and cancer. Due to inherent heterogeneity in native mucin structure, many synthetic materials have been designed to probe mucin chemistry, biology, and physics. Such materials include various glycopolymers, low molecular weight glycopeptides, glycopolypeptides, polysaccharides, and polysaccharide-protein conjugates. This review highlights advances in the area of design and synthesis of mucin mimic materials, and their biomedical applications in glycan binding, epithelial models of infection, therapeutic delivery, vaccine formulation, and beyond.

Cnot8 eliminates naïve regulation networks and is essential for naïve-to-formative pluripotency transition

Mammalian early epiblasts at different phases are characterized by naïve, formative, and primed pluripotency states, involving extensive transcriptome changes. Here, we report that deadenylase Cnot8 of Ccr4-Not complex plays essential roles during the transition from naïve to formative state. Knock out (KO) Cnot8 resulted in early embryonic lethality in mice, but Cnot8 KO embryonic stem cells (ESCs) could be established. Compared with the cells differentiated from normal ESCs, Cnot8 KO cells highly expressed a great many genes during their differentiation into the formative state, including several hundred naïve-like genes enriched in lipid metabolic process and gene expression regulation that may form the naïve regulation networks. Knockdown expression of the selected genes of naïve regulation networks partially rescued the differentiation defects of Cnot8 KO ESCs. Cnot8 depletion led to the deadenylation defects of its targets, increasing their poly(A) tail lengths and half-life, eventually elevating their expression levels. We further found that Cnot8 was involved in the clearance of targets through its deadenylase activity and the binding of Ccr4-Not complex, as well as the interacting with Tob1 and Pabpc1. Our results suggest that Cnot8 eliminates naïve regulation networks through mRNA clearance, and is essential for naïve-to-formative pluripotency transition.

nr0b1 (DAX1) loss of function in zebrafish causes hypothalamic defects via abnormal progenitor proliferation and differentiation

The nuclear receptor DAX-1 (encoded by the NR0B1 gene) is presented in the hypothalamic tissues in humans and other vertebrates. Human patients with NR0B1 mutations often have hypothalamic-pituitary defects, but the involvement of NR0B1 in hypothalamic development and function is not well understood. Here, we report the disruption of the nr0b1 gene in zebrafish causes abnormal expression of gonadotropins, a reduction in fertilization rate, and an increase in post-fasting food intake, which is indicative of abnormal hypothalamic functions. We find that loss of nr0b1 increases the number of prodynorphin (pdyn)-expressing neurons but decreases the number of pro-opiomelanocortin (pomcb)-expressing neurons in the zebrafish hypothalamic arcuate region (ARC). Further examination reveals that the proliferation of progenitor cells is reduced in the hypothalamus of nr0b1 mutant embryos accompanying with the decreased expression of genes in the Notch signaling pathway. Additionally, the inhibition of Notch signaling in wild-type embryos increases the number of pdyn neurons, mimicking the nr0b1 mutant phenotype. In contrast, ectopic activation of Notch signaling in nr0b1 mutant embryos decreases the number of pdyn neurons. Taken together, our results suggest that nr0b1 regulates neural progenitor proliferation and maintenance to ensure normal hypothalamic neuron development.

Transient inhibition of mTOR in human pluripotent stem cells enables robust formation of mouse-human chimeric embryos

It has not been possible to generate naïve human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) that substantially contribute to mouse embryos. We found that a brief inhibition of mTOR with Torin1 converted hPSCs from primed to naïve pluripotency. The naïve hPSCs were maintained in the same condition as mouse embryonic stem cells and exhibited high clonogenicity, rapid proliferation, mitochondrial respiration, X chromosome reactivation, DNA hypomethylation, and transcriptomes sharing similarities to those of human blastocysts. When transferred to mouse blastocysts, naïve hPSCs generated 0.1 to 4% human cells, of all three germ layers, including large amounts of enucleated red blood cells, suggesting a marked acceleration of hPSC development in mouse embryos. Torin1 induced nuclear translocation of TFE3; TFE3 with mutated nuclear localization signal blocked the primed-to-naïve conversion. The generation of chimera-competent naïve hPSCs unifies some common features of naïve pluripotency in mammals and may enable applications such as human organ generation in animals.

Slow calcium waves mediate furrow microtubule reorganization and germ plasm compaction in the early zebrafish embryo

Zebrafish germ plasm ribonucleoparticles (RNPs) become recruited to furrows of early zebrafish embryos through their association with astral microtubules ends. During the initiation of cytokinesis, microtubules are remodeled into a furrow microtubule array (FMA), which is thought to be analogous to the mammalian midbody involved in membrane abscission. During furrow maturation, RNPs and FMA tubules transition from their original distribution along the furrow to enrichments at the furrow distal ends, which facilitates germ plasm mass compaction. We show that nebel mutants exhibit reduced furrow-associated slow calcium waves (SCWs), caused at least in part by defective enrichment of calcium stores. RNP and FMA distal enrichment mirrors the medial-to-distal polarity of SCWs, and inhibition of calcium release or downstream mediators such as Calmodulin affects RNP and FMA distal enrichment. Blastomeres with reduced or lacking SCWs, such as early blastomeres in nebel mutants and wild-type blastomeres at later stages, exhibit medially bundling microtubules similar to midbodies in other cell types. Our data indicate that SCWs provide medial-to-distal directionality along the furrow to facilitate germ plasm RNP enrichment at the furrow ends.

Chemical reprogramming and transdifferentiation

The revolutionizing somatic cell reprogramming/transdifferentiation technologies provide a new path for cell replacement therapies and drug screening. The original method for reprogramming involves the delivery of exogenous transcription factors, leading to the safety concerns about the possible genome integration. Many efforts have been taken to avoid genetic alteration in somatic cell reprogramming/transdifferentiation by using non-integrating gene delivery approaches, cell membrane permeable proteins, and small molecule compounds. Compared to other methods, small-molecule compounds have several unique advantages, such as structural versatility and being easy to control in a time-dependent and concentration-dependent way. More importantly, small molecules have been used as drugs to treat human diseases for thousands of years. So the small molecule approach to reprogramming might be more acceptable in clinical-related uses. In the past few years, small molecule approaches have made significant progresses in inducing pluripotent or functional differentiated cells from somatic cells. Here we review the recent achievements of chemical reprogramming/transdifferentiation and discuss the advantages and challenges facing this strategy in future applications.

Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes self-renewal and inhibits the primed state transition in naïve human embryonic stem cells

In both mice and humans, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) exist in at least two distinct states of pluripotency, known as the naïve and primed states. Our understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that enable PSCs to self-renew and to transition between different pluripotent states is important for understanding early development. In mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), Wnt proteins stimulate mESC self-renewal and support the naïve state. In human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), Wnt/β-catenin signaling is active in naïve-state hESCs and is reduced or absent in primed-state hESCs. However, the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in naïve hESCs remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of the secretion of Wnts or inhibition of the stabilization of β-catenin in naïve hESCs reduces cell proliferation and colony formation. Moreover, we show that addition of recombinant Wnt3a partially rescues cell proliferation in naïve hESCs caused by inhibition of Wnt secretion. Notably, inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in naïve hESCs did not cause differentiation. Instead, it induced primed hESC-like proteomic and metabolic profiles. Thus, our results suggest that naïve hESCs secrete Wnts that activate autocrine or paracrine Wnt/β-catenin signaling to promote efficient self-renewal and inhibit the transition to the primed state.

Mammalian non-CG methylations are conserved and cell-type specific and may have been involved in the evolution of transposon elements

Although non-CG methylations are abundant in several mammalian cell types, their biological significance is sparsely characterized. We gathered 51 human and mouse DNA methylomes from brain neurons, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, primordial germ cells and oocytes. We utilized an unbiased sub-motif prediction method and reported CW as the representative non-CG methylation context, which is distinct from CC methylation in terms of sequence context and genomic distribution. A two-dimensional comparison of non-CG methylations across cell types and species was performed. Unambiguous studies of sequence preferences and genomic region enrichment showed that CW methylation is cell-type specific and is also conserved between humans and mice. In brain neurons, it was found that active long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) lacked CW methylations but not CG methylations. Coincidentally, both human Alu and mouse B1 elements preferred high CW methylations at specific loci during their respective evolutionary development. Last, the strand-specific distributions of CW methylations in introns and long interspersed nuclear elements are also cell-type specific and conserved. In summary, our results illustrate that CW methylations are highly conserved among species, are dynamically regulated in each cell type, and are potentially involved in the evolution of transposon elements.

The roles of ERAS during cell lineage specification of mouse early embryonic development

Eras encodes a Ras-like GTPase protein that was originally identified as an embryonic stem cell-specific Ras. ERAS has been known to be required for the growth of embryonic stem cells and stimulates somatic cell reprogramming, suggesting its roles on mouse early embryonic development. We now report a dynamic expression pattern of Eras during mouse peri-implantation development: its expression increases at the blastocyst stage, and specifically decreases in E7.5 mesoderm. In accordance with its expression pattern, the increased expression of Eras promotes cell proliferation through controlling AKT activation and the commitment from ground to primed state through ERK activation in mouse embryonic stem cells; and the reduced expression of Eras facilitates primitive streak and mesoderm formation through AKT inhibition during gastrulation. The expression of Eras is finely regulated to match its roles in mouse early embryonic development during which Eras expression is negatively regulated by the β-catenin pathway. Thus, beyond its well-known role on cell proliferation, ERAS may also play important roles in cell lineage specification during mouse early embryonic development.

Establishment of Functional Genomics Pipeline in Mouse Epiblast-Like Tissue by Combining Transcriptomic Analysis and Gene Knockdown/Knockin/Knockout, Using RNA Interference and CRISPR/Cas9

The epiblast (foremost embryonic ectoderm) generates all three germ layers and therefore has crucial roles in the formation of all mammalian body cells. However, regulation of epiblast gene expression is poorly understood because of the difficulty of manipulating epiblast tissues in vivo. In the present study, using the self-organizing properties of mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC), we generated and characterized epiblast-like tissue in three-dimensional culture. We identified significant genome-wide gene expression changes in this epiblast-like tissue by transcriptomic analysis. In addition, we identified the particular significance of the Erk/Mapk and integrin-linked kinase pathways, and genes related to ectoderm/epithelial formation, using the bioinformatics resources IPA and DAVID. Here, we focused on Fgf5, which ranked in the top 10 among the discovered genes. To develop a functional analysis of Fgf5, we created an efficient method combining CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome engineering and RNA interference (RNAi). Notably, we show one-step generation of various Fgf5 reporter lines including heterozygous and homozygous knockins (the GET method). For time- and dose-dependent depletion of fgf5 over the course of development, we generated an ESC line harboring Tol2 transposon-mediated integration of an inducible short hairpin RNA interference system (pdiRNAi). Our findings raised the possibility that Fgf/Erk signaling and apicobasal epithelial integrity are important factors in epiblast development. In addition, our methods provide a framework for a broad array of applications in the areas of mammalian genetics and molecular biology to understand development and to improve future therapeutics.

Application Of Small Molecules Favoring Naïve Pluripotency during Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derivation

In mice, inhibition of both the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular-signal regulated kinase (MEK/Erk) and the Wnt signaling inhibitor glycogen synthase-3β (GSK3β) enables the derivation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) from nonpermissive strains in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). Whereas mESCs are in an uncommitted naïve state, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) represent a more advanced state, denoted as primed pluripotency. This burdens hESCs with a series of characteristics, which, in contrast to naïve ESCs, makes them not ideal for key applications such as cell-based clinical therapies and human disease modeling. In this study, different small molecule combinations were applied during human ESC derivation. Hereby, we aimed to sustain the naïve pluripotent state, by interfering with various key signaling pathways. First, we tested several combinations on existing, 2i (PD0325901 and CHIR99021)-derived mESCs. All combinations were shown to be equally adequate to sustain the expression of naïve pluripotency markers. Second, these conditions were tested during hESC derivation. Overall, the best results were observed in the presence of medium supplemented with 2i, LIF, and the noncanonical Wnt signaling agonist Wnt5A, alone and combined with epinephrine. In these conditions, outgrowths repeatedly showed an ESC progenitor-like morphology, starting from day 3. Culturing these "progenitor cells" did not result in stable, naïve hESC lines in the current conditions. Although Wnt5A could not promote naïve hESC derivation, we found that it was sustaining the conversion of established hESCs toward a more naïve state. Future work should aim to distinct the effects of the various culture formulations, including our Wnt5A-supplemented medium, reported to promote stable naïve pluripotency in hESCs.

Mucin-Inspired Thermoresponsive Synthetic Hydrogels Induce Stasis in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells and Human Embryos

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs; both embryonic and induced pluripotent) rapidly proliferate in adherent culture to maintain their undifferentiated state. However, for mammals exhibiting delayed gestation (diapause), mucin-coated embryos can remain dormant for days or months in utero, with their constituent PSCs remaining pluripotent under these conditions. Here we report cellular stasis for both hPSC colonies and preimplantation embryos immersed in a wholly synthetic thermoresponsive gel comprising poly(glycerol monomethacrylate)-poly(2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) [PGMA55-PHPMA135] diblock copolymer worms. This hydroxyl-rich mucin-mimicking nonadherent 3D gel maintained PSC viability and pluripotency in the quiescent G0 state without passaging for at least 14 days. Similarly, gel-coated human embryos remain in a state of suspended animation (diapause) for up to 8 days. The discovery of a cryptic cell arrest mechanism for both hPSCs and embryos suggests an important connection between the cellular mechanisms that evoke embryonic diapause and pluripotency. Moreover, such synthetic worm gels offer considerable utility for the short-term (weeks) storage of either pluripotent stem cells or human embryos without cryopreservation.

An integrated systems biology approach identifies positive cofactor 4 as a factor that increases reprogramming efficiency

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) can spontaneously dedifferentiate into embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like cells, which are designated as multipotent SSCs (mSSCs), without ectopic expression of reprogramming factors. Interestingly, SSCs express key pluripotency genes such as Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and Myc. Therefore, molecular dissection of mSSC reprogramming may provide clues about novel endogenous reprogramming or pluripotency regulatory factors. Our comparative transcriptome analysis of mSSCs and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) suggests that they have similar pluripotency states but are reprogrammed via different transcriptional pathways. We identified 53 genes as putative pluripotency regulatory factors using an integrated systems biology approach. We demonstrated a selected candidate, Positive cofactor 4 (Pc4), can enhance the efficiency of somatic cell reprogramming by promoting and maintaining transcriptional activity of the key reprograming factors. These results suggest that Pc4 has an important role in inducing spontaneous somatic cell reprogramming via up-regulation of key pluripotency genes.

Production of human pluripotent stem cell therapeutics under defined xeno-free conditions: progress and challenges

Recent advances on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have brought us closer to the realization of their clinical potential. Nonetheless, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications will require the generation of hPSC products well beyond the laboratory scale. This also mandates the production of hPSC therapeutics in fully-defined, xeno-free systems and in a reproducible manner. Toward this goal, we summarize current developments in defined media free of animal-derived components for hPSC culture. Bioinspired and synthetic extracellular matrices for the attachment, growth and differentiation of hPSCs are also reviewed. Given that most progress in xeno-free medium and substrate development has been demonstrated in two-dimensional rather than three dimensional culture systems, translation from the former to the latter poses unique difficulties. These challenges are discussed in the context of cultivation platforms of hPSCs as aggregates, on microcarriers or after encapsulation in biocompatible scaffolds.

Culture adaptation alters transcriptional hierarchies among single human embryonic stem cells reflecting altered patterns of differentiation

We have used single cell transcriptome analysis to re-examine the substates of early passage, karyotypically Normal, and late passage, karyotypically Abnormal (‘Culture Adapted’) human embryonic stem cells characterized by differential expression of the cell surface marker antigen, SSEA3. The results confirmed that culture adaptation is associated with alterations to the dynamics of the SSEA3(+) and SSEA3(-) substates of these cells, with SSEA3(-) Adapted cells remaining within the stem cell compartment whereas the SSEA3(-) Normal cells appear to have differentiated. However, the single cell data reveal that these substates are characterized by further heterogeneity that changes on culture adaptation. Notably the Adapted population includes cells with a transcriptome substate suggestive of a shift to a more naïve-like phenotype in contrast to the cells of the Normal population. Further, a subset of the Normal SSEA3(+) cells expresses genes typical of endoderm differentiation, despite also expressing the undifferentiated stem cell genes, POU5F1 (OCT4) and NANOG, whereas such apparently lineage-primed cells are absent from the Adapted population. These results suggest that the selective growth advantage gained by genetically variant, culture adapted human embryonic stem cells may derive in part from a changed substate structure that influences their propensity for differentiation.

Establishing pluripotency in early development

The earliest steps of embryonic development involve important changes in chromatin and transcription factor networks, which are orchestrated to establish pluripotent cells that will form the embryo. DNA methylation, histone modifications, the pluripotency regulatory network of transcription factors, maternal factors and newly translated proteins all contribute to these transitions in dynamic ways. Moreover, these dynamics are linked to the onset of zygotic transcription. We will review recent progress in our understanding of chromatin state and regulation of gene expression in the context of embryonic development in vertebrates, in particular mouse, Xenopus and zebrafish. We include work on mouse embryonic stem cells and highlight work that illustrates how early embryonic dynamics establish gene regulatory networks and the state of pluripotency.

Ex Uno Plures: Molecular Designs for Embryonic Pluripotency

Pluripotent cells in embryos are situated near the apex of the hierarchy of developmental potential. They are capable of generating all cell types of the mammalian body proper. Therefore, they are the exemplar of stem cells. In vivo, pluripotent cells exist transiently and become expended within a few days of their establishment. Yet, when explanted into artificial culture conditions, they can be indefinitely propagated in vitro as pluripotent stem cell lines. A host of transcription factors and regulatory genes are now known to underpin the pluripotent state. Nonetheless, how pluripotent cells are equipped with their vast multilineage differentiation potential remains elusive. Consensus holds that pluripotency transcription factors prevent differentiation by inhibiting the expression of differentiation genes. However, this does not explain the developmental potential of pluripotent cells. We have presented another emergent perspective, namely, that pluripotency factors function as lineage specifiers that enable pluripotent cells to differentiate into specific lineages, therefore endowing pluripotent cells with their multilineage potential. Here we provide a comprehensive overview of the developmental biology, transcription factors, and extrinsic signaling associated with pluripotent cells, and their accompanying subtypes, in vitro heterogeneity and chromatin states. Although much has been learned since the appreciation of mammalian pluripotency in the 1950s and the derivation of embryonic stem cell lines in 1981, we will specifically emphasize what currently remains unclear. However, the view that pluripotency factors capacitate differentiation, recently corroborated by experimental evidence, might perhaps address the long-standing question of how pluripotent cells are endowed with their multilineage differentiation potential.

Novel insights into embryonic stem cell self-renewal revealed through comparative human and mouse systems biology networks

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), characterized by their ability to both self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell lineages, are a powerful model for biomedical research and developmental biology. Human and mouse ESCs share many features, yet have distinctive aspects, including fundamental differences in the signaling pathways and cell cycle controls that support self-renewal. Here, we explore the molecular basis of human ESC self-renewal using Bayesian network machine learning to integrate cell-type-specific, high-throughput data for gene function discovery. We integrated high-throughput ESC data from 83 human studies (~1.8 million data points collected under 1,100 conditions) and 62 mouse studies (~2.4 million data points collected under 1,085 conditions) into separate human and mouse predictive networks focused on ESC self-renewal to analyze shared and distinct functional relationships among protein-coding gene orthologs. Computational evaluations show that these networks are highly accurate, literature validation confirms their biological relevance, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) validation supports our predictions. Our results reflect the importance of key regulatory genes known to be strongly associated with self-renewal and pluripotency in both species (e.g., POU5F1, SOX2, and NANOG), identify metabolic differences between species (e.g., threonine metabolism), clarify differences between human and mouse ESC developmental signaling pathways (e.g., leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)-activated JAK/STAT in mouse; NODAL/ACTIVIN-A-activated fibroblast growth factor in human), and reveal many novel genes and pathways predicted to be functionally associated with self-renewal in each species. These interactive networks are available online at www.StemSight.org for stem cell researchers to develop new hypotheses, discover potential mechanisms involving sparsely annotated genes, and prioritize genes of interest for experimental validation.

Primate-specific endogenous retrovirus-driven transcription defines naive-like stem cells

Naive embryonic stem cells hold great promise for research and therapeutics as they have broad and robust developmental potential. While such cells are readily derived from mouse blastocysts it has not been possible to isolate human equivalents easily, although human naive-like cells have been artificially generated (rather than extracted) by coercion of human primed embryonic stem cells by modifying culture conditions or through transgenic modification. Here we show that a sub-population within cultures of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) manifests key properties of naive state cells. These naive-like cells can be genetically tagged, and are associated with elevated transcription of HERVH, a primate-specific endogenous retrovirus. HERVH elements provide functional binding sites for a combination of naive pluripotency transcription factors, including LBP9, recently recognized as relevant to naivety in mice. LBP9-HERVH drives hESC-specific alternative and chimaeric transcripts, including pluripotency-modulating long non-coding RNAs. Disruption of LBP9, HERVH and HERVH-derived transcripts compromises self-renewal. These observations define HERVH expression as a hallmark of naive-like hESCs, and establish novel primate-specific transcriptional circuitry regulating pluripotency.

Reprogramming by lineage specifiers: blurring the lines between pluripotency and differentiation

The generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) has raised enormous expectations within the biomedical community due to their potential vast implications in regenerative and personalized medicine. However, reprogramming to iPS is still not fully comprehended. Difficulties found in ascribing specific molecular patterns to pluripotent cells (PSCs), and inherent inter-line and intra-line variability between different PSCs need to be resolved. Additionally, and despite multiple assumptions, it remains unclear whether the current in vitro culturing conditions for the maintenance and differentiation of PSCs do indeed recapitulate the developmental processes observed in vivo. As a consequence, basic questions such as what is the actual nature of PSCs remain unanswered and different theories have emerged in regards to the identity of these valuable cell population. Here we discuss on the published theories for defining PSC identity, the implications that the different postulated models have for the reprogramming field as well as speculate on potential future directions that might be opened once a precise knowledge on the nature of PSCs is accomplished.

Autofluorescence properties of murine embryonic stem cells during spontaneous differentiation phases

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The autofluorescence (AF) analysis allows in vivo, real-time assessment of cell functional activities, depending on the presence of biomolecules strictly involved in metabolic reactions and acting as endogenous fluorophores. Pluripotent stem cells during differentiation are known to undergo changes in their morphofunctional properties, with particular reference to bioenergetic metabolic signatures involving endogenous fluorophores such as NAD(P)H, flavins, lipofuscin-like lipopigments. Since the development of regenerative therapies based on pluripotent cells requires a careful monitoring of the successful maturation into the desired phenotype, aim of our work is to evaluate the AF potential to assess the differentiation phases in a murine stem cell model.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) maintained with and without leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), embryoid bodies (EBs), and EB-derived cells undergoing spontaneous differentiation toward the hematopoietic lineage have been used as a sample models. Cell AF properties have been characterized upon 366-nm excitation, under living conditions and in the absence of exogenous markers. Imaging, microspectrofluorometric techniques, and spectral fitting analysis based on the spectral parameters of each endogenous fluorophore have been applied to estimate their contribution to the whole cell AF emission spectra. Specific cytochemical labeling has been performed to validate AF data.

RESULTS

Depending on the differentiation phases, cells undergo changes in morphology, AF distribution patterns, and AF emission spectral profiles. These latter reflect variations in the single endogenous fluorophore contribution to the overall emission. The coenzyme NAD(P)H accounts for up to 80% of the whole spectral area. The free form prevails on the bound one, and their changes have been investigated in terms of NAD(P)Hbound/free and redox ratios. These values vary in agreement with a slow metabolic activity and prevailing glycolytic metabolism in the undifferentiated HM1 cells, an increased metabolic activity still relying on glycolysis during the early differentiation phases, and an increased oxidative phosphorylation in EB and hematopoietic precursor cells. Lipofuscin-like lipopigments decrease following differentiation, and porphyrins contributing for less than 5%, prevail in the more actively differentiating cells. These results reflect the shift between anaerobic and aerobic respiration following differentiation, consistently with a decreased autophagy of cell organelles (i.e., mitochondria, as a strategy reported in the literature to keep the undifferentiated homeostasis state), higher mitochondrial activity with more numerous NADH binding sites and synthesis of heme as prosthetic group of proteins, that is, cytochromes.

CONCLUSIONS

These data open promising perspectives for the monitoring of stem cells differentiation under living conditions without labeling with exogenous agents (inducing perturbations when used in vivo), or immunomarkers not always available for veterinary and zootechnics, by exploiting endogenous fluorophores as intrinsic biomarkers of cell morphofunctional changes.