0000000000004847
AUTHOR
D. V. Krishna Pantakani
Gene Expression and Epigenetic Signatures of Germ Cell-Derived Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells
Germ cell-derived Pluripotent Stem Cells (gPSCs) are pluripotent stem cells that originate from Spermatogonial Stem Cells (SSCs) of the testis. Several reports in the last few years have shown that it is possible to isolate and enrich the SSC population by different approaches and even reprogram these in vivo multipotent cells to gPSCs in vitro. As these cells could be an alternative to circumvent the ethical objections regarding the use of Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) for therapeutic approaches, these SSC-derived gPSCs were characterized in several studies comparatively to the gold standard of pluripotency, the ESCs. The results provide great promise that gPSCs can be of importance for pra…
Stage-specific germ-cell marker genes are expressed in all mouse pluripotent cell types and emerge early during induced pluripotency.
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) generated from the in-vitro culture of blastocyst stage embryos are known as equivalent to blastocyst inner cell mass (ICM) in-vivo. Though several reports have shown the expression of germ cell/pre-meiotic (GC/PrM) markers in ESCs, their functional relevance for the pluripotency and germ line commitment are largely unknown. In the present study, we used mouse as a model system and systematically analyzed the RNA and protein expression of GC/PrM markers in ESCs and found them to be comparable to the expression of cultured pluripotent cells originated from the germ line. Further, siRNA knockdown experiments have demonstrated the parallel maintenance and independen…
Zfp819, a novel KRAB-zinc finger protein, interacts with KAP1 and functions in genomic integrity maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cells
AbstractPluripotency is maintained by both known and unknown transcriptional regulatory networks. In the present study, we have identified Zfp819, a KRAB-zinc finger protein, as a novel pluripotency-related factor and characterized its role in pluripotent stem cells. We show that Zfp819 is expressed highly in various types of pluripotent stem cells but not in their differentiated counterparts. We identified the presence of non-canonical nuclear localization signals in particular zinc finger motifs and identified them as responsible for the nuclear localization of Zfp819. Analysis of the Zfp819 promoter region revealed the presence of a transcriptionally active chromatin signature. Moreover,…
Global and gene-specific histone modification profiles of mouse multipotent adult germline stem cells
We previously reported the generation of multipotent adult germline stem cells (maGSCs) from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) isolated from adult mouse testis. In a later study, we substantiated the pluripotency of maGSCs by demonstrating their close similarity to pluripotent male embryonic stem cells (ESCs) at the epigenetic level of global and gene-specific DNA methylation. Here, we extended the comparative epigenetic analysis of maGSCs and male ESCs by investigating the second main epigenetic modification in mammals, i.e. global and gene-specific modifications of histones (H3K4 trimethylation, H3K9 acetylation, H3K9 trimethylation and H3K27 trimethylation). Using immunofluorescence stain…