A requirement for FGF signalling in the formation of primitive streak-like intermediates from primitive ectoderm in culture

Fibronectin stimulates the osteogenic differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells

Conditioned medium from human hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2-CM) has been shown to stimulate the osteogenic/chondrogenic differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells (mESCs). HepG2-CM is considered to contain visceral endoderm (VE)-like signals and attempts have recently been made to characterize it, using proteomic profiling, with fibronectin being identified as one promising candidate. Herein, we investigated whether fibronectin is able to mimic the activities of HepG2-CM during the osteogenic differentiation of mESCs. Specifically, the addition of RGD peptides and heparin in HepG2-CM significantly reduced the growth- and adhesion-promoting effects of HepG2-CM, in addition to suppressing its osteogenic-inductive activity. Furthermore, direct addition of fibronectin to basal medium was able to reproduce, at least partially, the function of HepG2-CM. In particular, fibronectin induced the early onset of osteogenic differentiation in mESCs, as confirmed by gene expression of osteogenic markers, and resulted in the three-fold higher calcium deposition at day 11 of osteogenic culture compared to the control group. These data clearly suggest that fibronectin contributes to the biological activities of HepG2-CM and plays a stimulatory role during the process of osteogenesis in mESCs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The formation of proximal and distal definitive endoderm populations in culture requires p38 MAPK activity

Endoderm formation in the mammal is a complex process with two lineages forming during the first weeks of development, the primitive (or extraembryonic) endoderm, which is specified in the blastocyst, and the definitive endoderm that forms later, at gastrulation, as one of the germ layers of the embryo proper. Fate mapping evidence suggests that the definitive endoderm arises as two waves, which potentially reflect two distinct cell populations. Early primitive ectoderm-like (EPL) cell differentiation has been used successfully to identify and characterise mechanisms regulating molecular gastrulation and lineage choice during differentiation. The roles of the p38 MAPK family in the formation of definitive endoderm were investigated using EPL cells and chemical inhibitors of p38 MAPK activity. These approaches define a role for p38 MAPK activity in the formation of the primitive streak and a second role in the formation of the definitive endoderm. Characterisation of the definitive endoderm populations formed from EPL cells demonstrates the formation of two distinct populations, defined by gene expression and ontogeny, that were analogous to the proximal and distal definitive endoderm populations of the embryo. Formation of the proximal definitive endoderm was found to require p38 MAPK activity and is correlated with molecular gastrulation, defined by the expression of brachyury (T). Distal definitive endoderm formation also requires p38 MAPK activity but can form when T expression is inhibited. Understanding lineage complexity will be a prerequisite for the generation of endoderm derivatives for commercial and clinical use.

Zfhx1b induces a definitive neural stem cell fate in mouse embryonic stem cells

Inducing a stable and predictable program of neural cell fate in pluripotent cells in vitro is an important goal for utilizing these cells for modeling human disease mechanisms. However, the extent to which in vitro neural specification recapitulates in vivo neural specification remains to be fully established. We previously demonstrated that in the mouse embryo, activation of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling promotes definitive neural stem cell (NSC) development through the upregulation of the transcription factor Zfhx1b. Here, we asked whether Zfhx1b is similarly required during neural lineage development of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Zfhx1b gene expression is rapidly upregulated in mouse ES cells cultured in a permissive neural-inducing environment, compared to ES cells in a standard pluripotency maintenance environment, and is potentiated by FGF signalling. However, overexpression of Zfhx1b in ES cells in maintenance conditions, containing serum and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), is sufficient to induce Sox1 expression, a marker found in neural precursors and to promote definitive NSC colony formation. Knockdown of Zfhx1b in ES cells using siRNA did not affect the initial transition of ES cells to a neural cell fate, but did diminish the ability of these neural cells to develop further into definitive NSCs. Thus, our findings using ES cells are congruent with evidence from mouse embryos and support a model, whereby intercellular FGF signaling induces Zfhx1b, which promotes the development of definitive NSCs subsequent to an initial neural specification event that is independent of this pathway.

A system to enrich for primitive streak-derivatives, definitive endoderm and mesoderm, from pluripotent cells in culture

Two lineages of endoderm develop during mammalian embryogenesis, the primitive endoderm in the pre-implantation blastocyst and the definitive endoderm at gastrulation. This complexity of endoderm cell populations is mirrored during pluripotent cell differentiation in vitro and has hindered the identification and purification of the definitive endoderm for use as a substrate for further differentiation. The aggregation and differentiation of early primitive ectoderm-like (EPL) cells, resulting in the formation of EPL-cell derived embryoid bodies (EPLEBs), is a model of gastrulation that progresses through the sequential formation of primitive streak-like intermediates to nascent mesoderm and more differentiated mesoderm populations. EPL cell-derived EBs have been further analysed for the formation of definitive endoderm by detailed morphological studies, gene expression and a protein uptake assay. In comparison to embryoid bodies derived from ES cells, which form primitive and definitive endoderm, the endoderm compartment of embryoid bodies formed from EPL cells was comprised almost exclusively of definitive endoderm. Definitive endoderm was defined as a population of squamous cells that expressed Sox17, CXCR4 and Trh, which formed without the prior formation of primitive endoderm and was unable to endocytose horseradish peroxidase from the medium. Definitive endoderm formed in EPLEBs provides a substrate for further differentiation into specific endoderm lineages; these lineages can be used as research tools for understanding the mechanisms controlling lineage establishment and the nature of the transient intermediates formed. The similarity between mouse EPL cells and human ES cells suggests EPLEBs can be used as a model system for the development of technologies to enrich for the formation of human ES cell-derived definitive endoderm in the future.

Heparan sulfate facilitates FGF and BMP signaling to drive mesoderm differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells

Heparan sulfate (HS) has been implicated in regulating cell fate decisions during differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into advanced cell types. However, the necessity and the underlying molecular mechanisms of HS in early cell lineage differentiation are still largely unknown. In this study, we examined the potential of EXT1(-/-) mouse ESCs (mESCs), that are deficient in HS, to differentiate into primary germ layer cells. We observed that EXT1(-/-) mESCs lost their differentiation competence and failed to differentiate into Pax6(+)-neural precursor cells and mesodermal cells. More detailed analyses highlighted the importance of HS for the induction of Brachyury(+) pan-mesoderm as well as normal gene expression associated with the dorso-ventral patterning of mesoderm. Examination of developmental cell signaling revealed that EXT1 ablation diminished FGF and BMP but not Wnt signaling. Furthermore, restoration of FGF and BMP signaling each partially rescued mesoderm differentiation defects. We further show that BMP4 is more prone to degradation in EXT1(-/-) mESCs culture medium compared with that of wild type cells. Therefore, our data reveal that HS stabilizes BMP ligand and thereby maintains the BMP signaling output required for normal mesoderm differentiation. In summary, our study demonstrates that HS is required for ESC pluripotency, in particular lineage specification into mesoderm through facilitation of FGF and BMP signaling.

Heavy Metals Need Assistance: The Contribution of Nicotianamine to Metal Circulation Throughout the Plant and the Arabidopsis NAS Gene Family

Understanding the regulated inter- and intra-cellular metal circulation is one of the challenges in the field of metal homeostasis. Inside organisms metal ions are bound to organic ligands to prevent their uncontrolled reactivity and to increase their solubility. Nicotianamine (NA) is one of the important ligands. This non-proteinogenic amino acid is synthesized by nicotianamine synthase (NAS). NA is involved in mobilization, uptake, transport, storage, and detoxification of metals. Much of the progress in understanding NA function has been achieved by studying mutants with altered nicotianamine levels. Mild and strong Arabidopsis mutants impaired in nicotianamine synthesis have been identified and characterized, namely nas4x-1 and nas4x-2. Arabidopsis thaliana has four NAS genes. In this review, we summarize the structure and evolution of the NAS genes in the Arabidopsis genome. We summarize previous results and present novel evidence that the four NAS genes have partially overlapping functions when plants are exposed to Fe deficiency and nickel supply. We compare the phenotypes of nas4x-1 and nas4x-2 and summarize the functions of NAS genes and NA as deduced from the studies of mutant phenotypes.