Cellular metabolism plays both an active and passive role in embryonic development, pluripotency, and cell-fate decisions. However, little is known regarding the role of metabolism in regulating the recently described "formative" pluripotent state. The pluripotent developmental continuum features a metabolic switch from a bivalent metabolism (both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation) in naive cells, to predominantly glycolysis in primed cells. We investigated the role of pyruvate kinase muscle isoforms 1/2 (PKM1/2) in naive, formative, and primed mouse embryonic stem cells through modulation of PKM1/2 messenger RNA transcripts using steric blocking morpholinos that downregulate PKM2 and upregulate PKM1. We have examined these effects in naive, formative, and primed cells by quantifying the effects of PKM1/2 modulation on pluripotent and metabolic transcripts and by measuring shifts in the population frequencies of cells expressing naive and primed cell surface markers by flow cytometry. Our results demonstrate that modulating PKM1 and PKM2 levels alters the transition from the naive state into a primed pluripotent state by enhancing the proportion of the affected cells seen in the "formative" state. Therefore, we conclude that PKM1/2 actively contributes to mechanisms that oversee early stem pluripotency and their progression toward a primed pluripotent state.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/scd.2021.0347 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
December 2024
Department of Medicine, Columbia Center for Human Development and Stem Cell Therapies, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Pluripotent stem cells possess a unique nuclear architecture characterized by a larger nucleus and more open chromatin, which underpins their ability to self-renew and differentiate. Here, we show that the nucleolus-specific RNA helicase DDX18 is essential for maintaining the pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells. Using techniques such as Hi-C, DNA/RNA-FISH, and biomolecular condensate analysis, we demonstrate that DDX18 regulates nucleolus phase separation and nuclear organization by interacting with NPM1 in the granular nucleolar component, driven by specific nucleolar RNAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
Although respiratory symptoms are the most prevalent disease manifestation of infection by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), nearly 20% of hospitalized patients are at risk for thromboembolic events. This prothrombotic state is considered a key factor in the increased risk of stroke, which is observed clinically during both acute infection and long after symptoms clear. Here, we develop a model of SARS-CoV-2 infection using human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes (PCs), and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to recapitulate the vascular pathology associated with SARS-CoV-2 exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Mol Cell Cardiol
December 2024
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenzhen 518057, China; State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China; Key Laboratory of Application of Pluripotent Stem Cells in Heart Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100037, China. Electronic address:
Background: Our previous single-cell RNA sequencing study in the adult human heart revealed that cardiomyocytes from both the atrium and ventricle display high activities of Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) regulons. However, the role of the transcription factor KLF2 in cardiomyocyte biology remains largely unexplored.
Methods And Results: We employed transverse aortic constriction surgery in male C57BL/6 J mice to develop an in vivo model of cardiac hypertrophy, and generated different in vitro cardiac hypertrophy models in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes and human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.
Nat Biomed Eng
December 2024
CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, P. R. China.
The development of prophylactic cancer vaccines typically involves the selection of combinations of tumour-associated antigens, tumour-specific antigens and neoantigens. Here we show that membranes from induced pluripotent stem cells can serve as a tumour-antigen pool, and that a nanoparticle vaccine consisting of self-assembled commercial adjuvants wrapped by such membranes robustly stimulated innate immunity, evaded antigen-specific tolerance and activated B-cell and T-cell responses, which were mediated by epitopes from the abundant number of antigens shared between the membranes of tumour cells and pluripotent stem cells. In mice, the vaccine elicited systemic antitumour memory T-cell and B-cell responses as well as tumour-specific immune responses after a tumour challenge, and inhibited the progression of melanoma, colon cancer, breast cancer and post-operative lung metastases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biol Chem
December 2024
Department of Clinical Pathobiology and Immunological Testing, School of Medical Laboratory, Qilu Medical University, Zibo 255300, China.
Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from pre-implantation and post-implantation embryos, respectively. These cells are capable of interconversion through manipulation of key transcription factors and signaling pathways. While BAF chromatin remodeling complexes are known to play crucial roles in ESC self-renewal and pluripotency, their roles in EpiSCs and their interconversion with ESCs remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!