Identification and characterisation of the early differentiating cells in neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells.

One of the challenges in studying early differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is being able to discriminate the initial differentiated cells from the original pluripotent stem cells and their committed progenies. It remains unclear how a pluripotent stem cell becomes a lineage-specific cell type during early development, and how, or if, pluripotent genes, such as Oct4 and Sox2, play a role in this transition. Here, by studying the dynamic changes in the expression of embryonic surface antigens, we identified the sequential loss of Tra-1-81 and SSEA4 during hESC neural differentiation and isolated a transient Tra-1-81(-)/SSEA4(+) (TR-/S4+) cell population in the early stage of neural differentiation.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 promotes proliferation and survival via activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in bladder cancer.

Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR) play key roles in proliferation, differentiation, and tumorigenesis. Many urothelial carcinomas contain activating point mutations or increased expression of FGFR3. However, little is known about the role of other FGFRs.