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FGF-signalling in the differentiation of mouse ES cells towards ...

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DE <strong>in</strong> medium conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g activ<strong>in</strong> only. We <strong>the</strong>refore conclude that addition <strong>of</strong> BMP4 has noposterioris<strong>in</strong>g effect on our DE <strong>in</strong> this system.DiscussionOur protocol for <strong>the</strong> generation <strong>of</strong> posterior foregut from an activ<strong>in</strong>-<strong>in</strong>duced DE cell populationis successful as a ‘pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciple’. We show that addition <strong>of</strong> posterioris<strong>in</strong>g factors such asRA and <strong>FGF</strong> <strong>in</strong>duce PDX1-expression <strong>in</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>differentiation</strong> <strong>of</strong> apparently naïve DE <strong>cells</strong>.The protocol is reproducible between E14, Pdx1-LacZ and Pdx1-GFP cell l<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>in</strong> which weobta<strong>in</strong> 2-4% PDX1 + <strong>cells</strong> on average. However, attempts to <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>the</strong> efficiency <strong>of</strong> Pdx1-<strong>in</strong>duction proved difficult and <strong>the</strong> protocol is <strong>the</strong>refore not satisfactory for fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>differentiation</strong><strong>in</strong>to pancreatic endoderm.It seems that <strong>the</strong>re is a fundamental problem <strong>in</strong> our protocol setup, as we have had little success<strong>in</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> PDX1 + <strong>cells</strong>. One source <strong>of</strong> problems could be connected to ourculture conditions. We use B27 which conta<strong>in</strong>s glucocorticoids that have been shown to <strong>in</strong>hibitPdx1-expression (Tanimizu et al. 2004). Ano<strong>the</strong>r issue is tim<strong>in</strong>g; we see <strong>the</strong> highest <strong>in</strong>duction<strong>of</strong> Pdx1-GFP + <strong>cells</strong> after 3 days <strong>of</strong> culture <strong>in</strong> Step 2 media, and <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g an extra 2 days <strong>of</strong><strong>differentiation</strong> does not <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>the</strong> numbers <strong>of</strong> Pdx1-GFP + <strong>cells</strong>. However, 3 days seem to bea ra<strong>the</strong>r short <strong>in</strong>duction period compared to o<strong>the</strong>r protocols. D’Amour and co-workers grewh<strong>ES</strong> cell-derived DE for 4-8 days to differentiate <strong>the</strong>m to posterior foregut (D'Amour et al.2006).The rationales on which we have built our <strong>in</strong>duc<strong>in</strong>g factor-comb<strong>in</strong>ations seem reasonable, asstudies performed <strong>in</strong> h<strong>ES</strong> <strong>cells</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>FGF</strong>4 and RA showed an <strong>in</strong>duction <strong>of</strong> 32% PDX1 + <strong>cells</strong>from DE-cultures (Johannesson et al. 2009). Also, <strong>in</strong>termediate concentrations <strong>of</strong> <strong>FGF</strong>2 wereshown to <strong>in</strong>duce pancreatic foregut specification, whereas higher concentrations <strong>in</strong>duced amore posterior gut type (Ameri et al. 2010).In conclusion, we show that by addition <strong>of</strong> RA and <strong>FGF</strong> we can successfully <strong>in</strong>duce PDX1 +<strong>cells</strong>, albeit <strong>in</strong> low numbers. This protocol lays <strong>the</strong> ground for fur<strong>the</strong>r optimization, althoughthis may prove difficult <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> current culture conditions.55

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