技术资料

Mutations within the FUS gene (Fused in Sarcoma) are known to cause Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS),a neurodegenerative disease affecting upper and lower motoneurons. The FUS gene codes for a multifunctional RNA/DNA-binding protein that is primarily localized in the nucleus and is involved in cellular processes such as splicing,translation,mRNA transport and DNA damage response. In this study,we analyzed pathophysiological alterations associated with ALS related FUS mutations (mFUS) in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and hiPSC derived motoneurons. To that end,we compared cells carrying a mild or severe mFUS in physiological- and/or stress conditions as well as after induced DNA damage. Following hyperosmolar stress or irradiation,mFUS hiPS cells recruited significantly more cytoplasmatic FUS into stress granules accompanied by impaired DNA-damage repair. In motoneurons wild-type FUS was localized in the nucleus but also deposited as small punctae within neurites. In motoneurons expressing mFUS the protein was additionally detected in the cytoplasm and a significantly increased number of large,densely packed FUS positive stress granules were seen along neurites. The amount of FUS mislocalization correlated positively with both the onset of the human disease (the earlier the onset the higher the FUS mislocalization) and the maturation status of the motoneurons. Moreover,even in non-stressed post-mitotic mFUS motoneurons clear signs of DNA-damage could be detected. In summary,we found that the susceptibility to cell stress was higher in mFUS hiPSCs and hiPSC derived motoneurons than in controls and the degree of FUS mislocalization correlated well with the clinical severity of the underlying ALS related mFUS. The accumulation of DNA damage and the cellular response to DNA damage stressors was more pronounced in post-mitotic mFUS motoneurons than in dividing hiPSCs suggesting that mFUS motoneurons accumulate foci of DNA damage,which in turn might be directly linked to neurodegeneration. View Publication

BACKGROUND Massive liquid crystal droplets have been found during embryonic development in more than twenty different tissues and organs,including the liver,brain and kidney. Liquid crystal deposits have also been identified in multiple human pathologies,including vascular disease,liver dysfunction,age-related macular degeneration,and other chronic illnesses. Despite the involvement of liquid crystals in such a large number of human processes,this phenomenon is poorly understood and there are no in vitro systems to further examine the function of liquid crystals in biology. RESULTS We report the presence of tubular birefringent structures in embryoid bodies (EBs) differentiated in culture. These birefringent tubular structures initiate at the EB surface and penetrated the cortex at a variety of depths. Under crossed polarized light,these tubules are seen as a collection of birefringent Maltese crosses and tubules with birefringent walls and a non-birefringent lumen. The fluidity of these birefringent structures under pressure application led to elongation and widening,which was partially recoverable with pressure release. These birefringent structures also displayed heat triggered phase transition from liquid crystal to isotropic status that is partially recoverable with return to ambient temperature. These pressure and temperature triggered changes confirm the birefringent structures as liquid crystals. The first report of liquid crystal so early in development. CONCLUSION The structure of the liquid crystal tubule network we observed distributed throughout the differentiated embryoid bodies may function as a transportation network for nutrients and metabolic waste during EB growth,and act as a precursor to the vascular system. This observation not only reveals the involvement of liquid crystals earlier than previously known,but also provides a method for studying liquid crystals in vitro. View Publication

Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) are used for the culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). MEFs and HFFs differed in their capacity to support the proliferation and pluripotency of hESCs and could affect cardiac differentiation potential of hESCs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of MEFs and HFFs feeders on dopaminergic differentiation of hESCs lines. To minimize the impact of culture condition variation,two hESCs lines were cultured on mixed feeder cells (MFCs,MEFs: HFFs = 1:1) and HFFs feeder,respectively,and then were differentiated into dopaminergic (DA) neurons under the identical protocol. Dopaminergic differentiation was evaluated by immunocytochemistry,quantitative fluorescent real-time PCR,transmission and scanning electron microscopy,and patch clamp. Our results demonstrated that these hESCs-derived neurons were genuine and functional DA neurons. However,compared to hESCs line on MFCs feeder,hESCs line on HFFs feeder had a higher proportion of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive cells and expressed higher levels of FOXA2,PITX3,NURR1,and TH genes. In addition,the values of threshold intensity and threshold membrane potential of DA neurons from hESCs line on HFFs feeder were lower than those of DA neurons from hESCs line on the MFCs feeder. In conclusion,HFFs feeder not only facilitated the differentiation of hESCs cells into dopaminergic neurons,but also induced hESCs-derived DA neurons to express higher electrophysiological excitability. Therefore,feeder cells could affect not only dopaminergic differentiation potential of different hESCs lines,but also electrophysiological properties of hESCs-derived DA neurons. View Publication

Postcardiac arrest acidosis can decrease survival. Effective medications without adverse side effects are still not well characterized. We aimed to analyze whether early administration of glutamine could improve survival and protect cardiomyocytes from postcardiac arrest acidosis using animal and cell models. Forty Wistar rats with postcardiac arrest acidosis (blood pH textless 7.2) were included. They were divided into study (500 mg/kg L-alanyl-L-glutamine,n = 20) and control (normal saline,n = 20) groups. Each of the rats received resuscitation. The outcomes were compared between the two groups. In addition,cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells were exposed to HBSS with different pH levels (7.3 or 6.5) or to culture medium (control). Apoptosis-related markers and beating function were analyzed. We found that the duration of survival was significantly longer in the study group (p textless 0.05). In addition,in pH 6.5 or pH 7.3 HBSS buffer,the expression levels of cell stress (p53) and apoptosis (caspase-3,Bcl-xL) markers were significantly lower in cardiomyocytes treated with 50 mM L-glutamine than those without L-glutamine (RT-PCR). L-glutamine also increased the beating function of cardiomyocytes,especially at the lower pH level (6.5). More importantly,glutamine decreased cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased these cells' beating function at a low pH level. View Publication

An expansion of the cerebral neocortex is thought to be the foundation for the unique intellectual abilities of humans. It has been suggested that an increase in the proliferative potential of neural progenitors (NPs) underlies the expansion of the cortex and its convoluted appearance. Here we show that increasing NP proliferation induces expansion and folding in an in vitro model of human corticogenesis. Deletion of PTEN stimulates proliferation and generates significantly larger and substantially folded cerebral organoids. This genetic modification allows sustained cell cycle re-entry,expansion of the progenitor population,and delayed neuronal differentiation,all key features of the developing human cortex. In contrast,Pten deletion in mouse organoids does not lead to folding. Finally,we utilized the expanded cerebral organoids to show that infection with Zika virus impairs cortical growth and folding. Our study provides new insights into the mechanisms regulating the structure and organization of the human cortex. View Publication

Variability in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines remains a concern for disease modeling and regenerative medicine. We have used RNA-sequencing analysis and linear mixed models to examine the sources of gene expression variability in 317 human iPSC lines from 101 individuals. We found that ∼50% of genome-wide expression variability is explained by variation across individuals and identified a set of expression quantitative trait loci that contribute to this variation. These analyses coupled with allele-specific expression show that iPSCs retain a donor-specific gene expression pattern. Network,pathway,and key driver analyses showed that Polycomb targets contribute significantly to the non-genetic variability seen within and across individuals,highlighting this chromatin regulator as a likely source of reprogramming-based variability. Our findings therefore shed light on variation between iPSC lines and illustrate the potential for our dataset and other similar large-scale analyses to identify underlying drivers relevant to iPSC applications. View Publication

BACKGROUND Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) are common types of human cancer. Spheroid colony formation is used to characterize cancer stem cell (CSCs). In the present study,we analyzed the significance of kinesin family 11 (KIF11 in human ESCC and CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Expression of KIF11 in 105 ESCC and 100 CRC cases was determined using immunohistochemistry. RNA interference was used to inhibit KIF11 expression in ESCC and CRC cell lines. RESULTS In total,61 out of 105 (58%) ESCC and 62 out of 100 (62%) CRC cases were positive for KIF11. Expression of KIF11 was not associated with any clinicopathological characteristics. Both the number and size of spheres produced by from TE-5 ESCC cells and DLD-1 CRC cells were significantly reduced upon KIF11 siRNA transfection compared to negative control siRNA transfection. CONCLUSION These results indicate that KIF11 plays an important role in CSCs of ESCC and CRC. View Publication

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder in which the MECP2 (methyl CpG-binding protein 2) gene is mutated. Recent studies showed that RTT-derived neurons have many cellular deficits when compared to control,such as: less synapses,lower dendritic arborization and reduced spine density. Interestingly,treatment of RTT-derived neurons with Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF1) could rescue some of these cellular phenotypes. Given the critical role of IGF1 during neurodevelopment,the present study used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from RTT and control individuals to investigate the gene expression profile of IGF1 and IGF1R on different developmental stages of differentiation. We found that the thyroid hormone receptor (TRalpha 3) has a differential expression profile. Thyroid hormone is critical for normal brain development. Our results showed that there is a possible link between IGF1/IGF1R and the TRalpha 3 and that over expression of IGF1R in RTT cells may be the cause of neurites improvement in neural RTT-derived neurons. View Publication

Cellular therapy using stem cells in bone regeneration has gained increasing interest. Various studies suggest the clinical utility of osteoprogenitors-like mesenchymal stem cells in bone regeneration. However,limited availability of mesenchymal stem cells and conflicting evidence on their therapeutic efficacy limit their clinical application. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are potentially an unlimited source of healthy and functional osteoprogenitors (OPs) that could be utilized for bone regenerative applications. However,limited ability to track hESC-derived progenies in vivo greatly hinders translational studies. Hence,in this study,we aimed to establish hESC-derived OPs (hESC-OPs) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and to investigate their osteogenic differentiation potential in vitro. We fluorescently labelled H9-hESCs using a plasmid vector encoding GFP. The GFP-expressing hESCs were differentiated into hESC-OPs. The hESC-OPs(GFP+) stably expressed high levels of GFP,CD73,CD90,and CD105. They possessed osteogenic differentiation potential in vitro as demonstrated by increased expression of COL1A1,RUNX2,OSTERIX,and OPG transcripts and mineralized nodules positive for Alizarin Red and immunocytochemical expression of osteocalcin,alkaline phosphatase,and collagen-I. In conclusion,we have demonstrated that fluorescently labelled hESC-OPs can maintain their GFP expression for the long term and their potential for osteogenic differentiation in vitro. In future,these fluorescently labelled hESC-OPs could be used for noninvasive assessment of bone regeneration,safety,and therapeutic efficacy. View Publication

Spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an X-linked neuromuscular disease caused by polyglutamine (polyQ) expansion in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. SBMA belongs to the family of polyQ diseases,which are fatal neurodegenerative disorders mainly caused by protein-mediated toxic gain-of-function mechanisms and characterized by deposition of misfolded proteins in the form of aggregates. The neurotoxicity of the polyQ proteins can be modified by phosphorylation at specific sites,thereby providing the rationale for the development of disease-specific treatments. We sought to identify signaling pathways that modulate polyQ-AR phosphorylation for therapy development. We report that cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) phosphorylates polyQ-AR specifically at Ser(96) Phosphorylation of polyQ-AR by CDK2 increased protein stabilization and toxicity and is negatively regulated by the adenylyl cyclase (AC)/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway. To translate these findings into therapy,we developed an analog of pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP),a potent activator of the AC/PKA pathway. Chronic intranasal administration of the PACAP analog to knock-in SBMA mice reduced Ser(96) phosphorylation,promoted polyQ-AR degradation,and ameliorated disease outcome. These results provide proof of principle that noninvasive therapy based on the use of PACAP analogs is a therapeutic option for SBMA. View Publication

Mesoderm is the developmental precursor to myriad human tissues including bone,heart,and skeletal muscle. Unravelling the molecular events through which these lineages become diversified from one another is integral to developmental biology and understanding changes in cellular fate. To this end,we developed an in vitro system to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells through primitive streak intermediates into paraxial mesoderm and its derivatives (somites,sclerotome,dermomyotome) and separately,into lateral mesoderm and its derivatives (cardiac mesoderm). Whole-population and single-cell analyses of these purified populations of human mesoderm lineages through RNA-seq,ATAC-seq,and high-throughput surface marker screens illustrated how transcriptional changes co-occur with changes in open chromatin and surface marker landscapes throughout human mesoderm development. This molecular atlas will facilitate study of human mesoderm development (which cannot be interrogated in vivo due to restrictions on human embryo studies) and provides a broad resource for the study of gene regulation in development at the single-cell level,knowledge that might one day be exploited for regenerative medicine. View Publication

Structural cardiac remodeling,accompanying cytoskeletal reorganization of cardiac cells,is a major clinical outcome of diastolic heart failure. A highly local Ca(2+) influx across the plasma membrane has been suggested to code signals to induce Rho GTPase-mediated fibrosis,but it is obscure how the heart specifically decodes the local Ca(2+) influx as a cytoskeletal reorganizing signal under the conditions of the rhythmic Ca(2+) handling required for pump function. We found that an inhibition of transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3) channel activity exhibited resistance to Rho-mediated maladaptive fibrosis in pressure-overloaded mouse hearts. Proteomic analysis revealed that microtubule-associated Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor,GEF-H1,participates in TRPC3-mediated RhoA activation induced by mechanical stress in cardiomyocytes and transforming growth factor (TGF) β stimulation in cardiac fibroblasts. We previously revealed that TRPC3 functionally interacts with microtubule-associated NADPH oxidase (Nox) 2,and inhibition of Nox2 attenuated mechanical stretch-induced GEF-H1 activation in cardiomyocytes. Finally,pharmacological TRPC3 inhibition significantly suppressed fibrotic responses in human cardiomyocytes and cardiac fibroblasts. These results strongly suggest that microtubule-localized TRPC3-GEF-H1 axis mediates fibrotic responses commonly in cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts induced by physico-chemical stimulation. View Publication