OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG co-regulate glycolysis and participate in somatic induced reprogramming

Cytotechnology - OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG (OSN) are the key factors of cell reprogramming, which are involved in the maintenance of stem cell pluripotency. Recently, it has been found that glycolysis...     

Role of stress-activated OCT4A in the cell fate decisions of embryonal carcinoma cells treated with etoposide

Tumor cellular senescence induced by genotoxic treatments has recently been found to be paradoxically linked to the induction of “stemness.” This observation is critical as it directly impinges upon the response of tumors to current chemo-radio-therapy treatment regimens. Previously, we showed that following etoposide (ETO) treatment embryonal carcinoma PA-1 cells undergo a p53-dependent upregulation of OCT4A and p21Cip1 (governing self-renewal and regulating cell cycle inhibition and senescence, respectively). Here we report further detail on the relationship between these and other critical cell-fate regulators. PA-1 cells treated with ETO display highly heterogeneous increases in OCT4A and p21Cip1 indicative of dis-adaptation catastrophe. Silencing OCT4A suppresses p21Cip1, changes cell cycle regulation and subsequently suppresses terminal senescence; p21Cip1-silencing did not affect OCT4A expression or cellular phenotype. SOX2 and NANOG expression did not change following ETO treatment suggesting a dissociation of OCT4A from its pluripotency function. Instead, ETO-induced OCT4A was concomitant with activation of AMPK, a key component of metabolic stress and autophagy regulation. p16ink4a, the inducer of terminal senescence, underwent autophagic sequestration in the cytoplasm of ETO-treated cells, allowing alternative cell fates. Accordingly, failure of autophagy was accompanied by an accumulation of p16ink4a, nuclear disintegration, and loss of cell recovery. Together, these findings imply that OCT4A induction following DNA damage in PA-1 cells, performs a cell stress, rather than self-renewal, function by moderating the expression of p21Cip1, which alongside AMPK helps to then regulate autophagy. Moreover, this data indicates that exhaustion of autophagy, through persistent DNA damage, is the cause of terminal cellular senescence.     

Murine lymphocyte and embryonal carcinoma cell surface antigens recognised by rabbit anti-murine embryonal carcinoma serum

Some recent studies have suggested that murine embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells which lack classical H-2 molecules must express some novel class-I-MHC (major histocompatibility complex) type antigens. We have investigated whether rabbit anti-EC sera may recognize such components. Molecules of 40 and 48 kd were immunoprecipitated from EC cells and lymphocytes. The possibility that these molecules may be coded for by genes in the Qa-Tla locus which contains many MHC class-I genes or pseudogenes was investigated. The 40 and 48 kd molecules were not associated with beta 2-microglobulin on EC cells, nor with each other or other molecules through S-S bonds, although they appeared to have intradisulphide structures. Peptide map analysis suggested that the lymphocyte 40 and 48 kd molecules were related to the EC cell 40 and 48 kd molecules. However, these molecules were different from H-2, Ia or Qa-2 molecules from the same mouse strain.     

Transglutaminase activity and embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation

Murine embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells induced to differentiate by retinoic acid (RA) modulate transglutaminase (TGase) activity shortly after exposure to the inducer. Compounds that inhibit TGase enzyme activity in vitro can successfully block RA induced EC cell differentiation in culture. These observations suggest that TGase may play a role in mediating RA induced EC cell differentiation.     

Distinct lineage specification roles for NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2 in human embryonic stem cells

Nanog, Oct4, and Sox2 are the core regulators of mouse (m)ESC pluripotency. Although their basic importance in human (h)ESCs has been demonstrated, the mechanistic functions are not well defined. Here, we identify general and cell-line-specific requirements for NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2 in hESCs. We show that OCT4 regulates, and interacts with, the BMP4 pathway to specify four developmental fates. High levels of OCT4 enable self-renewal in the absence of BMP4 but specify mesendoderm in the presence of BMP4. Low levels of OCT4 induce embryonic ectoderm differentiation in the absence of BMP4 but specify extraembryonic lineages in the presence of BMP4. NANOG represses embryonic ectoderm differentiation but has little effect on other lineages, whereas SOX2 and SOX3 are redundant and repress mesendoderm differentiation. Thus, instead of being panrepressors of differentiation, each factor controls specific cell fates. Our study revises the view of how self-renewal is orchestrated in hESCs.     

Epigenetic reprogramming of Yak iSCNT embryos after donor cell pre-treatment with oocyte extracts

The treatment of donor cells with oocyte extracts before inter-species somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) is a novel method for cellular reprogramming. This study aims to evaluate the effect of pre-treatment donor cell with oocyte extracts on the early developmental competence of yak iSCNT embryos. Yak fibroblasts were reversibly permeabilized with streptolysin O, and then treated with yak oocyte extracts (YOE) or bovine oocyte extracts (BOE) prior to iSCNT. The 8-cell and blastocyst formation increased significantly compared with the control group (P<0.05) when donor cells pre-treated with YOE or BOE. The relative expression level of embryo-specific genes TBP1 and Mash2 were also up-regulated both in the blastocysts of the YOE and BOE groups. In addition, the methylation level of pluripotency-specific genes (Oct4 and Nanog) in the blastocysts of the YOE and BOE groups were similar to that of its IVF counterpart (53.1%, 48.8% vs. 40.1%; 24.8%, 26.5% vs. 35.9%). Our results suggested that pre-treatment of donor cells with oocyte extracts can improve nuclear-cytoplasmic reprogramming; thus representing a novel way to improve the efficiency of yak iSCNT.     

Analysis of a nontumorigenic embryonal carcinoma cell line

Embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells have proven to be of particular value in studies of both oncogenesis and mammalian development as well as in evaluating the relationship between these two phenomena. We have infected EC cells with a retrovirus in an effort to obtain by insertional mutagenesis cell lines defective in either differentiative or oncogenic potentials. One such cell line, identified originally by its unique morphological phenotype, is abnormal with respect to both parameters. These cells do not differentiate along typical EC cell lineages, possibly having lost their ability to elaborate endodermal derivatives. They do, however, retain certain cell surface markers characteristic of EC cells and lose these markers after exposure to retinoic acid. Most significantly, they also fail to form tumors in vivo in syngeneic mice, although they grow as well as the parental cells in vitro. Southern blot analysis indicates that this variant cell line has a single viral insert and the original cell was probably hemizygous for the insertion site, suggesting that a single gene may regulate both the tumorigenic and differentiative capacities of the cell.     

Differentiation potential of human embryonal carcinoma cell lines

We have established 17 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell lines from human testicular germ cell tumors by using three different methods of in vitro cultivation. Cultures of only three of these cell lines, and of clones derived from two of them, differentiate extensively when the cells are seeded at low density. A comparison is presented of the results obtained with the three methods used to establish and maintain these cell lines, and some properties of the three pluripotential EC lines are summarized.     

Inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase induces embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation

Murine embryonal carcinoma cells can be induced to differentiate in vitro by various physical and chemical means. We report here that inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase activity with a specific enzyme-activated inhibitor, alpha-difluoromethylornithine, can induce differentiation in embryonal carcinoma cells. The differentiated phenotype can be distinguished from undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells by altered cellular morphology, biochemical and cell surface antigenic properties. These results suggest that alterations in the levels of cellular polyamines may play a role in embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation.     

Induction of F9 embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation by inhibition of polyamine synthesis

alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), a highly selective inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), induced terminal differentiation of F9 mouse embryonal carcinoma cells in culture. Differentiation was assessed using morphological criteria and the level of plasminogen activator activity. The observed phenotypic changes and the fact that the cells did not synthesize alpha-fetoprotein, indicate that they were parietal endoderm cells. The putrescine, spermidine and spermine content of untreated control cells increased during exponential growth and then decreased gradually with continued time in culture. The increases in putrescine and spermidine contents were prevented by DFMO treatment. In fact, the putrescine and spermidine content decreased below the limits of detection after only one day of treatment. The addition of putrescine to the culture medium at any time within 4 days of DFMO treatment, prevented the DFMO-induced differentiation, suggesting that the effects observed were indeed caused by polyamine depletion. The phenotypic changes induced by DFMO were similar to those induced by retinoic acid, a very potent inducer of embryonal carcinoma differentiation. Although retinoic acid can inhibit ODC activity and putrescine accumulation, it is unlikely that this mechanism of action is responsible for retinoic acid-induced F9 cell differentiation, inasmuch as putrescine addition did not prevent the expression of the differentiated phenotype. Undifferentiated F9 embryonal carcinoma cells exhibited a very short G1 phase, and in this respect they are similar to the cells of the preimplantation mouse embryo. In control (exponentially growing) cultures a majority of the F9 cells were in the S phase, but in DFMO-treated cultures they accumulated in the G1 phase and showed no further proliferative potential.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Stimulation of differentiation of several murine embryonal carcinoma cell lines by retinoic acid

Retinoic acid stimulates several murine embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell lines, even those previously considered to be incapable of differentiating, to give rise to cell types distinguishable from the parental phenotype in morphology, production of plasminogen activator and surface protein properties. Retinoic acid promotes these changes over a range of low concentrations (10⁻⁹–10⁻⁵ M) which are generally non-toxic to the cells. The effects are clearly demonstrated when EC cells are aggregated prior to exposure to retinoic acid. It is concluded that the observed phenotypic alterations induced by retinoic acid reflect differentiation of the EC cells since non-EC cell characteristics are maintained by cloned cells several generations after retinoic acid is removed from the cultures. Our studies suggest that although retinoic acid stimulates the conversion of EC cells to differentiated derivatives, it does not influence the direction of differentiation. Furthermore, the effectiveness of retinoic acid in stimulating differentiation of EC cells from lines such as Nulli-SCC1 raises the question of whether true ‘nullipotent’ EC lines really exist.     

The role of aggregation in embryonal carcinoma cell differentiation

Cultures of the P19 line of embryonal carcinoma cells differentiate into various cell types including cardiac muscle when aggregated and exposed to medium containing 1% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). DMSO-treated aggregates became completely covered with an epithelial cell type 3 to 4 days following drug exposure. This epithelial cell was tentatively identified as primitive extraembryonic endoderm by its ultrastructural appearance and its possession of cytokeratin intermediate filaments. Muscle cells developed within the interior of DMSO-treated aggregates. They first became apparent 5 to 6 days after DMSO exposure and were characterized by the presence of striated muscle-specific myosin, immature myofibrils, and intercalated discs. We determined the proportion of cells developing into epithelium and muscle in aggregates of various sizes and showed that the proportion of epithelium was highest in small aggregates whereas muscle cells developed only in aggregates of relatively large size. The muscle was usually associated with necrotic areas which developed within the interior of large aggregates. Our results suggest that cardiac muscle differentiation in the aggregates requires both the DMSO-induced formation of an epithelial cell coat and one other condition which may be the proximity to necrotic areas.     

Isolation of cell lines from differentiating embryonal carcinoma cultures

We report the isolation of six cell lines (designated EB cell lines) from cultures of the hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase-deficient (HGPRT-) feeder-dependent embryonal carcinoma cell line PSA4TG12 which have undergone in vitro differentiation, and of clonal derivatives of these lines. Whereas some lines possess quasi-diploid karyotypes similar to that of PSA4TG12, others are markedly aneuploid. Cell line EB26/1 and its clonal derivatives undergo adipogenesis in cultures maintained at confluence; in tumours formed by injection into syngeneic mice they produce muscle-like cells, cartilage and bone in addition to adipose cells. We therefore propose that EB26/1 and its clones are aneuploid derivatives of an uncommitted mesodermal cell. Cell line EB28/5 forms tumours with a histological appearance resembling that of yolk sac carcinoma but does not express biochemical markers characteristic of visceral or parietal endoderm. Cell line EB28/10n has a myoblast-like culture morphology and in tumours is capable of producing muscle-like cells, cartilage and bone. A high specific activity of alkaline phosphatase is present is two of five EB cell lines assayed, and plasminogen activator activity is present in all five. Since the EB cell lines represent populations of cells each expressing a particular subset of the genetic information present in a common ancestral genome, they will be invaluable for studying the developmental regulation of gene expression.     

Metabolism of retinoids by embryonal carcinoma cells

Several embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell lines were tested in culture for their ability to metabolize all-trans-[3H]retinol, all-trans-[3H]retinyl acetate, and all-trans-[3H]retinoic acid. There was little, if any, metabolism of all-trans-retinol to more polar compounds; we failed to detect conversion to acidic retinoids by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and derivatization. We also did not observe [3H]retinoic acid when EC cells were incubated with [3H]retinyl acetate. Unlike the other retinoids, all-trans-[3H]retinoic acid, even at micromolar levels, was almost totally modified by cells from several EC lines within 24 h. Most of the labeled products were secreted into the medium. Some EC lines metabolized retinoic acid constitutively, whereas others had an inducible enzyme system. A differentiation-defective line, which contains little or no cellular retinoic acid-binding protein activity, metabolized retinoic acid poorly, even after exposure to inducers. At least eight retinoic acid metabolites were generated; many contain hydroxyl residues. Our data lead us to propose that retinol does not induce differentiation of EC cells in vitro via conversion to retinoic acid. Also, the relatively rapid metabolism of retinoic acid by EC cells suggests either that the induction of differentiation need involve only a transient exposure to this retinoid or that one or more of the retinoic acid metabolites can also promote differentiation.