The expression of retroviral vectors in murine stem cells and transgenic mice

Development ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 263-275
Author(s):  
Colin L. Stewart ◽  
Ulrich Rüther ◽  
Christa Garber ◽  
Mirka Vanek ◽  
Erwin F. Wagner

The introduction of recombinant DNA into mouse embryos has proved to be a useful technique in addressing a number of important developmental questions, e.g. the identification of DNA sequences controlling tissue-specific gene expression and the role of genes in growth control (for reviews see Palmiter & Brinster, 1985; Wagner & Stewart, 1986). Currently the favoured method for gene transfer into mice is by DNA injection into a pronucleus of the fertilized egg. However an alternative method is to exploit retroviruses as vectors for introducing genes either directly into embryos or into embryonal carcinoma (EC) or embryonic stem (ES) cells which can then be used to form chimaeric mice (Bradley, Evans, Kaufman & Robertson, 1984). There are a number of advantages to using retroviral vectors, the major one being that they can infect a wide variety of cells at an efficiency approaching 100 %.

eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yick W Fong ◽  
Jaclyn J Ho ◽  
Carla Inouye ◽  
Robert Tjian

Acquisition of pluripotency is driven largely at the transcriptional level by activators OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG that must in turn cooperate with diverse coactivators to execute stem cell-specific gene expression programs. Using a biochemically defined in vitro transcription system that mediates OCT4/SOX2 and coactivator-dependent transcription of the Nanog gene, we report the purification and identification of the dyskerin (DKC1) ribonucleoprotein complex as an OCT4/SOX2 coactivator whose activity appears to be modulated by a subset of associated small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). The DKC1 complex occupies enhancers and regulates the expression of key pluripotency genes critical for self-renewal in embryonic stem (ES) cells. Depletion of DKC1 in fibroblasts significantly decreased the efficiency of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell generation. This study thus reveals an unanticipated transcriptional role of the DKC1 complex in stem cell maintenance and somatic cell reprogramming.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie A. Adelman ◽  
Subrata Chattopadhyay ◽  
James J. Bieker

Erythroid cell-specific gene regulation during terminal differentiation is controlled by transcriptional regulators, such as EKLF and GATA1, that themselves exhibit tissue-restricted expression patterns. Their early expression, already in evidence within multipotential hematopoietic cell lines, has made it difficult to determine what extracellular effectors and transduction mechanisms might be directing the onset of their own transcription during embryogenesis. To circumvent this problem, we have taken the novel approach of investigating whether the ability of embryonic stem (ES) cells to mimic early developmental patterns of cellular expression during embryoid body (EB) differentiation can address this issue. We first established conditions whereby EBs could form efficiently in the absence of serum. Surprisingly, in addition to mesoderm, these cells expressed hemangioblast and hematopoietic markers. However, they did not express the committed erythroid markers EKLF and GATA1, nor the terminally differentiated β-like globin markers. Using this system, we determined that EB differentiation in BMP4 was necessary and sufficient to recover EKLF and GATA1 expression and could be further stimulated by the inclusion of VEGF, SCF, erythropoietin and thyroid hormone. EBs were competent to respond to BMP4 only until day 4 of differentiation, which coincides with the normal onset of EKLF expression. The direct involvement of the BMP/Smad pathway in this induction process was further verified by showing that erythroid expression of a dominant negative BMP1B receptor or of the inhibitory Smad6 protein prevented induction of EKLF or GATA1 even in the presence of serum. Although Smad1, Smad5 and Smad8 are all expressed in the EBs, BMP4 induction of EKLF and GATA1 transcription is not immediate. These data implicate the BMP/Smad induction system as being a crucial pathway to direct the onset of EKLF and GATA1 expression during hematopoietic differentiation and demonstrate that EB differentiation can be manipulated to study induction of specific genes that are expressed early within a lineage.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Arai ◽  
Christina Minjares ◽  
Seiho Nagafuchi ◽  
Toru Miyazaki

The manipulation of a specific gene in NOD mice, the best animal model for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), must allow for the precise characterization of the functional involvement of its encoded molecule in the pathogenesis of the disease. Although this has been attempted by the cross-breeding of NOD mice with many gene knockout mice originally created on the 129 or C57BL/6 strain background, the interpretation of the resulting phenotype(s) has often been confusing due to the possibility of a known or unknown disease susceptibility locus (e.g.,Iddlocus) cosegregating with the targeted gene from the diabetes-resistant strain. Therefore, it is important to generate mutant mice on a pure NOD background by using NOD-derived embryonic stem (ES) cells. By using the NOD ES cell line established by Nagafuchi and colleagues in 1999 (FEBSLett., 455, 101–104), the authors reexamined various conditions in the context of cell culture, DNA transfection, and blastocyst injection, and achieved a markedly improved transmission efficiency of these NOD ES cells into the mouse germ line. These modifications will enable gene targeting on a “pure” NOD background with high efficiency, and contribute to clarifying the physiological roles of a variety of genes in the disease course of IDDM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
N. G. KOSTOMITSOPOULOS (Ν.Γ. ΚΩΣΤΟΜΗΤΣΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ)

The oestrogen receptor is a ligand-activated transcription factor that modulates specific gene expression by binding to short DNA sequences. The study of the role of oestrogen receptor on the expression of the mitogenic actionof oestrogens and oncogenesis lead biomedical research in new approaches of the treatment of oestrogen-dependent tumors by using antioestrogens. Main mechanism of action of antioestrogens is the prevention of oestrogen action by blocking the binding of oestradiol to the oestrogen receptor. Tamoxifen, the most wellknown antioestrogen, is widely used as adjuvant therapy in all stages of human breast cancer. Recently interest is focused on the potential use of "pure" antioestrogens. The use of antioestrogens in veterinary oncology is also under discussion.


2000 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.F. Pera ◽  
B. Reubinoff ◽  
A. Trounson

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are cells derived from the early embryo that can be propagated indefinitely in the primitive undifferentiated state while remaining pluripotent; they share these properties with embryonic germ (EG) cells. Candidate ES and EG cell lines from the human blastocyst and embryonic gonad can differentiate into multiple types of somatic cell. The phenotype of the blastocyst-derived cell lines is very similar to that of monkey ES cells and pluripotent human embryonal carcinoma cells, but differs from that of mouse ES cells or the human germ-cell-derived stem cells. Although our understanding of the control of growth and differentiation of human ES cells is quite limited, it is clear that the development of these cell lines will have a widespread impact on biomedical research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 119 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Liu ◽  
Yanmei Qi ◽  
Shu-Chan Hsu ◽  
Siavash Saadat ◽  
Saum Rahimi ◽  
...  

Cellular repressor of E1A-stimulated genes 1 (CREG1) is a 24 kD glycoprotein essential for early embryonic development. Our immunofluorescence studies revealed that CREG1 is highly expressed at myocyte junctions in both embryonic and adult hearts. To explore it role in cardiomyogenesis, we employed gain- and loss-of-function analyses demonstrating that CREG1 is required for the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell into cohesive myocardium-like structures. Chimeric cultures of wild-type and CREG1 knockout ES cells expressing cardiac-specific reporters showed that the cardiomyogenic effect of CREG1 is cell autonomous. Furthermore, we identified a novel interaction between CREG1 and Sec8 of the exocyst complex, which tethers vesicles to the plasma membrane. Mutations of the amino acid residues D141 and P142 to alanine in CREG1 abolished its binding to Sec8. To address the role of the CREG1-Sec8 interaction in cardiomyogenesis, we rescued CREG1 knockout ES cells with wild-type and Sec8-binding mutant CREG1 and showed that CREG1 binding to Sec8 promotes cardiomyocyte differentiation and cohesion. Mechanistically, CREG1, Sec8 and N-cadherin all localize at cell-cell adhesion sites. CREG1 overexpression enhances the assembly of adherens and gap junctions. By contrast, its knockout inhibits the Sec8-N-cadherin interaction and induces their degradation. Finally, shRNA-mediated knockdown of Sec8 leads to cardiomyogenic defects similar to CREG1 knockout. These results suggest that the CREG1 binding to Sec8 enhances the assembly of intercellular junctions and promotes cardiomyogenesis.


2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (12) ◽  
pp. G1103-G1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeru B. H. Ko ◽  
Sakiko Azuma ◽  
Yukihiro Yokoyama ◽  
Akiko Yamamoto ◽  
Kazuhiro Kyokane ◽  
...  

We have recently identified the zinc finger and SCAN domain containing 4 (Zscan4), which is transiently expressed and regulates telomere elongation and genome stability in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of ZSCAN4 in the adult pancreas and elucidate the role of ZSCAN4 in tissue inflammation and subsequent regeneration. The expression of ZSCAN4 and other progenitor or differentiated cell markers in the human pancreas was immunohistochemically examined. Pancreas sections of alcoholic or autoimmune pancreatitis patients before and under maintenance corticosteroid treatment were used in this study. In the adult human pancreas a small number of ZSCAN4-positive (ZSCAN4+) cells are present among cells located in the islets of Langerhans, acini, ducts, and oval-shaped cells. These cells not only express differentiated cell markers for each compartment of the pancreas but also express other tissue stem/progenitor cell markers. Furthermore, the number of ZSCAN4+cells dramatically increased in patients with chronic pancreatitis, especially in the pancreatic tissues of autoimmune pancreatitis actively regenerating under corticosteroid treatment. Interestingly, a number of ZSCAN4+cells in the pancreas of autoimmune pancreatitis returned to the basal level after 1 yr of maintenance corticosteroid treatment. In conclusion, coexpression of progenitor cell markers and differentiated cell markers with ZSCAN4 in each compartment of the pancreas may indicate the presence of facultative progenitors for both exocrine and endocrine cells in the adult pancreas.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
J. Antony ◽  
F. Oback ◽  
R. Broadhurst ◽  
S. Cole ◽  
C. Graham ◽  
...  

To produce live cloned mammals from adult somatic cells the nuclei of these cells must be first reprogrammed from a very restricted, cell lineage-specific gene expression profile to an embryo-like expression pattern, compatible with embryonic development. Although this has been achieved in a number of species the efficiency of cloning remains very low. Inadequate reprogramming of epigenetic marks in the donor cells correlated with aberrant embryonic gene expression profiles has been identified as a key cause of this inefficiency. Some of the most common epigenetic marks are chemical modifications of histones, the main structural proteins of chromatin. A range of different histone modifications, including acetylation and methylation, exists and can be attributed to either repression or activation of genes. One epigenetic mark which is known to be very stable and difficult to remove during reprogramming is the trimethylation of lysine 9 in histone H3 (H3K9Me3). To test the hypothesis that H3K9Me3 marks are a major stumbling block for successful cloning we are attempting to remove these marks by overexpression of the H3K9Me3 specific histone demethylase, jmjd2b, in donor cells, prior to their use for nuclear transfer. We have engineered mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells for the tet inducible expression of a fusion protein with a functional jmjd2b or non-functional mutant jmjd2b histone demethylase. Approximately 94% and 88% of the cells can be induced for the expression of functional and mutant jmjd2b-EGFP in the respective ES cell lines. Immunofluorescence analyses have shown that induction of functional jmjd2b-EGFP results in an approximately 50% reduction of H3K9Me3 levels compared to non-induced cells and induced mutant jmjd2b-EGFP cells. The comparison of the in-vitro embryo development following nuclear transfer with induced and non-induced donor cells show significantly better overall development to blastocysts and morulae from induced donor cells with reduced H3K9Me3 levels.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 1357-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Matsumoto ◽  
Atsushi Kubo ◽  
Huixian Liu ◽  
Kuniharu Akita ◽  
Friedrich Laub ◽  
...  

Krüppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) is a member of a growing family of transcription factors that share a common 3 C2H2 zinc finger DNA binding domain and have broad activity in regulating proliferation and development. We have previously established that Klf6 is expressed in neuronal tissue, hindgut, heart, lung, kidney, and limb buds during midgestation. To explore the potential role of Klf6 in mouse development, we analyzed Klf6-/- mice and found that the homozygous mutation is embryonic lethal by embryonic day (E) 12.5 and associated with markedly reduced hematopoiesis and poorly organized yolk sac vascularization. Additionally, mRNA levels of Scl and Gata1 were reduced by approximately 80% in Klf6-/- yolk sacs. To further analyze this phenotype, we generated Klf6-/- embryonic stem (ES) cells by homologous recombination, and compared their capacity to differentiate into the hematopoietic lineage with that of either Klf6+/- or Klf6+/+ ES cells. Consistent with the phenotype in the early embryo, Klf6-/- ES cells displayed significant hematopoietic defects following differentiation into EBs. Prolongation of epiblast-like cells and delays in mesoderm induction were also observed in the Klf6-/- EBs, associated with delayed expression of Brachyury, Klf1, and Gata1. Forced expression of KLF6 using a tet-inducible system enhanced the hematopoietic potential of wild-type EBs. Collectively, these findings implicate Klf6 in ES-cell differentiation and hematopoiesis.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1329-1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Xu ◽  
Roger J. Davis

ABSTRACT The c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is implicated in proliferation. Mice with a deficiency of either the Jnk1 or the Jnk2 genes are viable, but a compound deficiency of both Jnk1 and Jnk2 causes early embryonic lethality. Studies using conditional gene ablation and chemical genetic approaches demonstrate that the combined loss of JNK1 and JNK2 protein kinase function results in rapid senescence. To test whether this role of JNK was required for stem cell proliferation, we isolated embryonic stem (ES) cells from wild-type and JNK-deficient mice. We found that Jnk1 −/− Jnk2 −/− ES cells underwent self-renewal, but these cells proliferated more rapidly than wild-type ES cells and exhibited major defects in lineage-specific differentiation. Together, these data demonstrate that JNK is not required for proliferation or self-renewal of ES cells, but JNK plays a key role in the differentiation of ES cells.


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