小鼠胚胎干细胞(ES-8501细胞)建系过程的核型及特性分析

小鼠胚胎性癌(EC)细胞系的细胞核型大多数异常,对用于分析EC细胞与胚胎细胞之间的关系和进行嵌合体研究等都是不利的。人们都期望能有正常核型的胚胎细胞系的建立。近年来Evans和Kaufman以及Martin等人先后用不同方法直接从小鼠的内细胞团(ICM)细胞建立了多潜能的胚胎干细胞(erabryonicstem eells,简称ES细胞),也有人称之为EK     

LIF基因转染的ES细胞生长与分化特性的研究

我们将人D型LIF cDNA以正反两种方向分别克隆到载体pKCR 3,并引入neo~r基因,构建成pSVLD( )和pSVLD(-)质粒,按磷酸钙沉淀法分别转染ES-5胚胎干细胞,经G418和不同浓度LIF条件培液共同筛选、Nor-thern和Southern分析以及ES-5细胞集落分化抑制能力测定,建立了过度表达分泌LIF的ESL( )细胞株和表达外源反义LIF RNA的ESL(-)细胞株。我们发现,ESL( )A2细胞能够在无外源LIF常规培液下至少传13代以上,仍能正常生长和传代,并保持与ES-5细胞同样的体外生长的特征性形态,以及具有干细胞特点和发育多潜能性,表明过度表达LIF确实能使ES细胞完全脱离对外源LIF条件培液的依赖性;而表达反义LIP RNA的ESL(-)细胞对培液中LIF浓度的依赖性明显升高,也更易分化,说明ES细胞内源LIF基因的表达水平虽低,但对于抑制ES细胞的分化仍可能是必需的。形态学观察发现,体外悬滴培养中经10~(-6)mol/L RA诱导后,过度表达LIF并未产生抑制ESL( )A2细胞分化的现象,和亲本ES-5细胞比较,也未发现其明显改变了10~(-6)mol/L RA对ESL( )A2细胞诱导分化的方向;而相同条件下,表达外源反义LIF RNA,则使ESL(-)B5细胞更易于向形态明确的细胞包括成纤维样和梭样细胞分化。上述细胞株的建立,提供了一个研究在不添加LIF的常规培液中生长的ES细胞或表达外源反义LIF RNA的ES细胞的生长分化的模型。     

Embryonic stem cells stably transfected with mRAR beta 2-lacZ exhibit specific expression in chimeric embryos.

Using the embryonic stem (ES) cell/chimera approach, we have studied the activity of the mouse retinoic acid receptor beta 2 (mRAR beta 2) promoter during ES cell differentiation and during embryonic development. Stable ES clones were isolated after introduction of a 1.8 kb mRAR beta 2-lacZ expression cassette. LacZ expression in these stable clones was specifically induced by retinoic acid (RA) in a similar fashion as the endogenous RAR beta 2 gene. Following introduction of three different ES clones into blastocysts, an integration-independent mRAR beta 2-lacZ expression pattern was obtained in chimeric embryos similar to that described by in situ hybridization and transgenic studies. Moreover, mRAR beta 2-lacZ expression was also detected at some additional sites not described before, e.g. body wall, ureter, mesonephric duct and optic stalk. Maternal RA administration at 8.5 days of pregnancy extended lacZ expression to more anterior and posterior regions. Transgenic mice were generated from germ-line transmission of the transfected ES cells; expression pattern and changes in expression upon RA induction in these transgenic embryos were identical to those in chimeric embryos. We conclude that by using the ES/chimera approach, the proximal 1.8 kb of the mRAR beta 2 promoter produces a reliable and reproducible expression pattern of the reporter gene, and that the ES cell/chimera approach is invaluable for the study of gene expression and regulation.     

DMSO 对悬浮培养的东北红豆杉细胞凋亡和紫杉醇合成的影响

研究了不同浓度的DMSO对悬浮培养的东北红豆杉(Taxus cuspidata)细胞的增殖能力、细胞活性以及紫杉醇合成和释放等方面的影响,同时应用荧光指示剂双染法检测了细胞凋亡的发生情况.结果显示2%的DMSO处理能显著降低细胞活性,抑制细胞的增殖能力,使细胞核内DNA含量减少,培养中、后期在荧光显微镜下可见部分细胞核出现典型的凋亡形态,同时伴有紫杉醇产量的明显增加;对照组及1%以下浓度组未出现上述改变.结果表明一定浓度的DMSO能诱导细胞凋亡,促进细胞紫杉醇合成能力的提高.     

Targeted disruption of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR alpha) and RAR gamma results in receptor-specific alterations in retinoic acid-mediated differentiation and retinoic acid metabolism.

F9 embryonic teratocarcinoma stem cells differentiate into an epithelial cell type called extraembryonic endoderm when treated with retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of retinol (vitamin A). This differentiation is presumably mediated through the actions of retinoid receptors, the RARs and RXRs. To delineate the functions of each of the different retinoid receptors in this model system, we have generated F9 cell lines in which both copies of either the RAR alpha gene or the RAR gamma gene are disrupted by homologous recombination. The absence of RAR alpha is associated with a reduction in the RA-induced expression of both the CRABP-II and Hoxb-1 (formerly 2.9) genes. The absence of RAR gamma is associated with a loss of the RA-inducible expression of the Hoxa-1 (formerly Hox-1.6), Hoxa-3 (formerly Hox-1.5), laminin B1, collagen IV (alpha 1), GATA-4, and BMP-2 genes. Furthermore, the loss of RAR gamma is associated with a reduction in the metabolism of all-trans-RA to more polar derivatives, while the loss of RAR alpha is associated with an increase in metabolism of RA relative to wild-type F9 cells. Thus, each of these RARs exhibits some specificity with respect to the regulation of differentiation-specific gene expression. These results provide an explanation for the expression of multiple RAR types within one cell type and suggest that each RAR has specific functions.     

Altered expression of retinoic acid (RA) receptor mRNAs in the fetal mouse secondary palate by all-trans and 13-cis RAs: implications for RA-induced teratogenesis

Retinoic acid (RA) is mandatory for various biological processes and normal embryonic development but is teratogenic at high concentrations. In rodents, one of the major malformations induced by RA is cleft palate (CP). RA mediates its effects by RA receptors (RARs), but the expression patterns of RARs in the developing palate are still unclear. We investigated the normal expression of RAR alpha, beta, and gamma messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in the fetal mouse secondary palate and the effects of all-trans and 13-cis RAs on the expression of RAR mRNAs by Northern blot analysis. RAR alpha (2.8, 3.8 kb), RAR beta (3.3 kb), and RAR gamma (3.7 kb) mRNAs were detected in the fetal palate on gestational days (GD) 12.5-14.5. The expression of RAR alpha and gamma mRNAs did not show apparent sequential changes, but that of RAR beta mRNA increased at GD 13.5. Treatment of pregnant mice with 100 mg/kg all-trans RA induced CP in 94% of the fetuses and elevated the levels of RAR beta and gamma mRNAs in the fetal palate. The up-regulation of RAR beta mRNA by all-trans RA was more marked than that of RAR gamma mRNA. Treatment with 100 mg/kg 13-cis RA induced CP in only 19% of the fetuses. Although 13-cis RA elevated the RAR beta and gamma mRNA levels in fetal palates, its up-regulation was slower and less marked than that induced by all-trans RA. These findings indicate that the induction of RAR beta mRNA in the fetal palate correlates well with the tissue concentration of all-trans RA after RA treatment, and RAR beta may be one of the most influential candidate molecules for RA-induced teratogenesis.