Project description:The directed differentiation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) and embryonic stem (ES) cells into definitive endoderm (DE) would allow the derivation of otherwise inaccessible progenitors for endodermal tissues. However, a global comparison of the relative equivalency of DE derived from iPS and ES populations has not been performed. Recent reports of molecular differences between iPS and ES cells have raised uncertainty as to whether iPS cells could generate autologous endodermal lineages in vitro. Here, we have shown that both mouse iPS and parental ES cells exhibited highly similar in vitro capacity to undergo directed differentiation into DE progenitors. With few exceptions, both cell types displayed similar surges in gene expression of specific master transcriptional regulators and global transcriptomes that define the developmental milestones of DE differentiation. Microarray analysis showed considerable overlap between the genetic programs of DE derived from ES/iPS cells in vitro and authentic DE from mouse embryos in vivo. Intriguingly, iPS cells exhibited aberrant silencing of imprinted genes known to participate in endoderm differentiation, yet retained a robust ability to differentiate into DE. Our results show that, despite some molecular differences, iPS cells can be efficiently differentiated into DE precursors, reinforcing their potential for development of cell-based therapies for diseased endodermal-derived tissues. Comparison of mouse ES cells, mouse iPS cells, and E8.25 Mouse embryos; in the undifferentiated state and definitive endoderm differentiated state. ckit+/Sox2dim =definitive endoderm (day 5 of differentiation in vitro); Sox2bright =undifferentiated ES or iPS cells (day 0 of differentiation); ENDM1+/Epcam+/SSlo=foregut endoderm sorted from mouse E8.25 embryos; Epcam+/ENDM1 negative =sorted comparison population from mouse E8.25 embryos.
Project description:RNA-seq of definitive endoderm and pancreatic progenitor cells derived in vitro from human pluripotent stem cells in order to study the role of transcription factor GATA6 in human pancreas development
Project description:Primitive neural stem cells (NSCs) could be derived from pluripotent mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, and then differentiate into definitive-type neural stem cells which resemble NSCs obtained from the central nervous system. Hence, primitive NSCs define an early stage of neural induction and provide a model to understand the mechanism that controls initial neural commitment. In this study, we performed microarray assay to analyze the global transcriptional profiles in mouse ES cell-derived primitive and definitive NSCs and to depict the molecular changes during the multi-staged neural differentiation process.