Project description:Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are pluripotent stem cells that can contribute to all lineages of the embryo proper and were first isolated in 1981 in this laboratory (Evans and Kaufmann, 1981). They have contributed immeasurably to biology, both in terms of studying pluripotent stem cell maintenance in culture and in vitro differentiation, and because they can be easily genetically manipulated in culture, allowing for the production of mice with designed specific mutations (targeted mice), via homologous recombination. The recent isolation of human ES cell lines is promising in terms of stem cell therapy development. Mouse ES cell lines are isolated from the inner cell masses of mouse blastocysts between days 3.5 and 5.0 post coitum, or from the inner cell masses of delayed blastocysts. However, it has been suggested that some aspects of their biology may be more similar to embryonic ectoderm from early post implantation embryos, than to pre-implantation blastocysts. It has also been suggested that human embryonic stem cells are more similar to mouse stem cells derived from early embryonic ectoderm, than to mouse ES cells. Until recently, however, it has been difficult to answer these questions definitively, as the quantity of tissue available from early embryos is extremely limiting. However, we have used two rounds of RNA amplification on early embryonic samples and individual colonies picked from ES cell culture to compare the transcriptomic profiles of mouse ES cells with the embryonic tissues from with these cells are commonly derived, and with slightly later embryonic stages. We have found that ES cells are notably most similar in profile to embryonic ectoderm at day 5.5 (EE5.5) . ES cells cannot be derived from this post implantation embryonic tissue, so this result is in some ways surprising. However, ES cells show key differences from EE5.5, including the expression of markers of pluripotency such as Oct4 and Nanog (see gene lists acompanying this record), which explain how their ability to contribute to all tissues of the embryo proper is retained. Keywords: cell type comparison
Project description:Various pluripotent stem (PS) cells can be isolated from early developing embryos in mouse. Among these, two kinds of PS cells were isolated from mouse blastocysts: conventional embryonic stem (ES) cells with domed morphology that are maintained with LIF and BMP for self-renewal, and FAB-ES cells with flat morphology that need bFGF, activinA and BIO for self-renewal. Here, we report a novel PS cell line from rat blastocysts, which is distinguishable from conventional ES cells but is morphologically similar to mouse epiblast stem cell (EpiSC) lines. We used microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression of rES and rPS.
Project description:Standard mouse ES cell derivation protocols use blastocysts at 3.5 dpc, but the efficiency of successful line derivation is low in commonly-used inbred strains, and much lower in other mouse strains. By using 2-cell zona pellucida-free embryos, culturing them on embryonic feeder cells, and passaging the outgrowths in several different media formulations, we have dramatically improved mouse ES cell line derivation efficiency. Mouse ES cell lines derived from blastocyst outgrowths using standard procedures were compared to preblastocyst (2-cell outgrowth)-derived lines, each derived in three different media formulations, using the genome-scale MEEBO gene expression oligo probe set. The overall goal of this microarray study is to determine the overall similarity between cell lines derived using the two methods, in terms of gene expression, as well as to identify important differences. Additionally, we hope to identify effects of the media formulation on gene expression in the cell lines.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.