Establishment of a Human Embryonic Germ Cell Line and Comparison with Mouse and Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Hyun Soo Yoon,김철근,Jong Hyuk Park,Sun Jong Kim,Jung Bok Lee,Ji Min Song,Sung Il Roh 한국분자세포생물학회 2004 Molecules and cells Vol.17 No.2

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells and embryonic germ (EG) cells are pluripotent and are invaluable material for in vitro studies of human embryogenesis and cell therapy. So far, only two groups have reported the establishment of human EG cell lines, whereas at least five human ES cell lines have been established. To see if human EG cell lines can be reproducibly estab-lished, we isolated primordial germ cells (PGCs) from gonadal ridges and mesenteries (9 weeks post-fertilization) and cultured them on mouse STO cells. As with mouse ES colonies, the PGC-derived cells have given rise to multilayered colonies without any differ-entiation over a year of continuous culture. They are karyotypically normal and express high levels of alka-line phosphatase, Oct-4, and several cell-surface mark-ers. Histological and immunocytochemical analysis of embryoid bodies (EBs) formed from floating cultures of the PGC-derived cell colonies revealed ectodermal, endodermal, and mesodermal tissues. When the EBs were cultured in the presence of insulin, transferrin, sodium selenite, and fibronectin for 1 week, markers of primitive neuroectoderm were expressed in cells within the EBs as well as in cells growing out from the EBs. These observations indicate that our PGC-derived cells satisfy the criteria for pluripotent stem cells and hence may be EG cells.

TM-25659-Induced Activation of FGF21 Level Decreases Insulin Resistance and Inflammation in Skeletal Muscle via GCN2 Pathways

정종갑,이상아,최성이,강엽,김태호,전자영,배명애,안희진,정하나,황은숙,이관우 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.12

The TAZ activator 2-butyl-5-methyl-6-(pyridine-3-yl)-3- [2'-(1H-tetrazole-5-yl)-biphenyl-4-ylmethyl]-3H-imidazo[4,5- b]pyridine] (TM-25659) inhibits adipocyte differentiation by interacting with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. 1 TM-25659 was previously shown to decrease weight gain in a high fat (HF) diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. However, the fundamental mechanisms underlying the effects of TM-25659 remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of TM-25659 on skeletal muscle functions in C2 myotubes and C57BL/6J mice. We studied the molecular mechanisms underlying the contribution of TM-25659 to palmitate (PA)-induced insulin resistance in C2 myotubes. TM-25659 improved PAinduced insulin resistance and inflammation in C2 myotubes. In addition, TM-25659 increased FGF21 mRNA expression, protein levels, and FGF21 secretion in C2 myotubes via activation of GCN2 pathways (GCN2-phosphoeIF2α- ATF4 and FGF21). This beneficial effect of TM-25659 was diminished by FGF21 siRNA. C57BL/6J mice were fed a HF diet for 30 weeks. The HF-diet group was randomly divided into two groups for the next 14 days: the HF-diet and HF-diet + TM-25659 groups. The HF diet + TM-25659- treated mice showed improvements in their fasting blood glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation, and inflammation, but neither body weight nor food intake was affected. The HF diet + TM- 25659-treated mice also exhibited increased expression of both FGF21 mRNA and protein. These data indicate thatTM-25659 may be beneficial for treating insulin resistance by inducing FGF21 in models of PA-induced insulin resistance and HF diet-induced insulin resistance.

Change in the Gastro-Intestinal Tract by Overexpressed Activin Beta A

김미녀,김영일,조정희,Kelly E Mayo,조병남 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.12

Originally, activins were identified as stimulators of FSH release in reproduction. Other activities, including secondary axis formation in development, have since been revealed. Here, we investigated the influence of activin βA on the body, including the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. Initially, the activin βA protein was detected in the serum proportional to the amount of pCMV-rAct plasmid injected. The induced level of activin βA in muscle was higher in female than male mice. Subsequent results revealed that stomach and intestine were severely damaged in pCMVrAct- injected mice. At the cellular level, loss of parietal cells was observed, resulting in increased pH within the stomach. This phenomenon was more severe in male than female mice. Consistent with damage of the stomach and intestine, activin βA often led to necrosis in the tip of the tail or foot, and loss of body weight was observed in pCMVrAct- injected male but not female mice. Finally, in pCMVrAct- injected mice, circulating activin βA led to death at supraphysiological doses, and this was dependent on the strain of mice used. Taken together, these results indicate that activin βA has an important role outside of reproduction and development, specifically in digestion. These data also indicate that activin βA must be controlled within a narrow range because of latent lethal activity. In addition, our approach can be used effectively for functional analysis of secreted proteins.

The ETS Factor, ETV2: a Master Regulator for Vascular Endothelial Cell Development

오세영,김주영,박창원 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.12

Appropriate vessel development and its coordinated function is essential for proper embryogenesis and homeostasis in the adult. Defects in vessels cause birth defects and are an important etiology of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, tumor and diabetes retinopathy. The accumulative data indicate that ETV2, an ETS transcription factor, performs a potent and indispensable function in mediating vessel development. This review discusses the recent progress of the study of ETV2 with special focus on its regulatory mechanisms and cell fate determining role in developing mouse embryos as well as somatic cells.

Corn Gluten Hydrolysate Affects the Time-Course of Metabolic Changes Through Appetite Control in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Rats

이효정,이효진,김지연,권오란 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.12

This study first investigated the effects of corn gluten hydrolysate (CGH) (1.5 g/day) administration for 7 days on appetite-responsive genes in lean Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. In a second set of experiments, the metabolic changes occurring at multiple time points over 8 weeks in response to CGH (35.33% wt/wt) were observed in high-fat (HF, 60% of energy as fat) diet-fed SD rats. In lean rats, the hypothalamus neuropeptide-Y and proopiomelanocortin mRNA levels of the CGH group were significantly changed in response to CGH administration. In the second part of the study, CGH treatment was found to reduce body weight and perirenal and epididymal fat weight. CGH also prevented an increase in food intake at 2 weeks and lowered plasma leptin and insulin levels in comparison with the HF group. This reduction in the plasma and hepatic lipid levels was followed by improved insulin resistance, and the beneficial metabolic effects of CGH were also partly related to increases in plasma adiponectin levels. The Homeostasis Model of Assessment - Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), an index of insulin resistance, was markedly improved in the HFCGH group compared with the HF group at 6 weeks. According to the microarray results, adipose tissue mRNA expression related to G-protein coupled receptor protein signaling pathway and sensory perception was significantly improved after 8 weeks of CGH administration. In conclusion, the present findings suggest that dietary CGH may be effective for improving hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in diet-induced obese rats as well as appetite control in lean rats.

Odorant Stimulation Promotes Survival of Rodent Olfactory Receptor Neurons via PI3K/Akt Activation and Bcl-2 Expression

김소연,유승준,Gabriele V Ronnett,김은경,문제일 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.6

Olfactory stimulation activates multiple signaling cascades in order to mediate activity-driven changes in gene expression that promote neuronal survival. To date, the mechanisms involved in activity-dependent olfactory neuronal survival have yet to be fully elucidated. In the current study, we observed that olfactory sensory stimulation, which caused neuronal activation, promoted activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3’-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and the expression of Bcl-2, which were responsible for olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) survival. We demonstrated that Bcl-2 expression increased after odorant stimulation both in vivo and in vitro. We also showed that odorant stimulation activated Akt, and that Akt activation was completely blocked by incubation with both a PI3K inhibitor (LY294002) and Akt1 small interfering RNA. Moreover, blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway diminished the odorantinduced Bcl-2 expression, as well as the effects on odorant- induced ORN survival. A temporal difference was noted between the activation of Akt1 and the expression of Bcl-2 following odorant stimulation. Blocking the PI3K/Akt pathway did not affect ORN survival in the time range prior to the increase in Bcl-2 expression, implying that these two events, activation of the PI3K pathway and Bcl-2 induction, were tightly connected to promote post-translational ORN survival. Collectively, our results indicated that olfactory activity activated PI3K/Akt, induced Bcl-2, and promoted long term ORN survival as a result.

Role of Sphingolipids and Metabolizing Enzymes in Hematological Malignancies

Kazuyuki Kitatani,Toshiro Okazaki,Makoto Taniguchi 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.6

Sphingolipids such as ceramide, sphingosine-1-phosphate and sphingomyelin have been emerging as bioactive lipids since ceramide was reported to play a role in human leukemia HL-60 cell differentiation and death. Recently, it is well-known that ceramide acts as an inducer of cell death, that sphingomyelin works as a regulator for microdomain function of the cell membrane, and that sphingosine-1- phosphate plays a role in cell survival/proliferation. The lipids are metabolized by the specific enzymes, and each metabolite could be again returned to the original form by the reverse action of the different enzyme or after a long journey of many metabolizing/synthesizing pathways. In addition, the metabolites may serve as reciprocal biomodulators like the rheostat between ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate. Therefore, the change of lipid amount in the cells, the subcellular localization and the downstream signal in a specific subcellular organelle should be clarified to understand the pathobiological significance of sphingolipids when extracellular stimulation induces a diverse of cell functions such as cell death, proliferation and migration. In this review, we focus on how sphingolipids and their metabolizing enzymes cooperatively exert their function in proliferation, migration, autophagy and death of hematopoetic cells, and discuss the way developing a novel therapeutic device through the regulation of sphingolipids for effectively inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing cell death in hematological malignancies such as leukemia, malignant lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Abnormal Astrocytosis in the Basal Ganglia Pathway of Git1−/− Mice

임수연,마원 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.6

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting approximately 5% of children. However, the neural mechanisms underlying its development and treatment are yet to be elucidated. In this study, we report that an ADHD mouse model, which harbors a deletion in the Git1 locus, exhibits severe astrocytosis in the globus pallidus (GP) and thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), which send modulatory GABAergic inputs to the thalamus. A moderate level of astrocytosis was displayed in other regions of the basal ganglia pathway, including the ventrobasal thalamus and cortex, but not in other brain regions, such as the caudate putamen, basolateral amygdala, and hippocampal CA1. This basal ganglia circuit-selective astrocytosis was detected in both in adult (2-3 months old) and juvenile (4 weeks old) Git1−/− mice, suggesting a developmental origin. Astrocytes play an active role in the developing synaptic circuit; therefore, we performed an immunohistochemical analysis of synaptic markers. We detected increased and decreased levels of GABA and parvalbumin (PV), respectively, in the GP. This suggests that astrocytosis may alter synaptic transmission in the basal ganglia. Intriguingly, increased GABA expression colocalized with the astrocyte marker, GFAP, indicative of an astrocytic origin. Collectively, these results suggest that defects in basal ganglia circuitry, leading to impaired inhibitory modulation of the thalamus, are neural correlates for the ADHD-associated behavioral manifestations in Git1−/− mice.

Measuring and Reducing Off-Target Activities of Programmable Nucleases Including CRISPR-Cas9

구태영,이정준,김진수 한국분자세포생물학회 2015 Molecules and cells Vol.38 No.6

Programmable nucleases, which include zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and RNA-guided engineered nucleases (RGENs) repurposed from the type II clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system are now widely used for genome editing in higher eukaryotic cells and whole organisms, revolutionising almost every discipline in biological research, medicine, and biotechnology. All of these nucleases, however, induce off-target mutations at sites homologous in sequence with on-target sites, limiting their utility in many applications including gene or cell therapy. In this review, we compare methods for detecting nuclease off-target mutations. We also review methods for profiling genome-wide off-target effects and discuss how to reduce or avoid offtarget mutations.

Effects of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate on Pacemaker Activity of Interstitial Cells of Cajal from Mouse Small Intestine

김영대,전제열,한경택,이준,박찬국,김만우,Pawan Kumar Shahi,Dong Chuan Zuo,최석 한국분자세포생물학회 2013 Molecules and cells Vol.35 No.1

Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are the pacemaker cells that generate the rhythmic oscillation responsible for the production of slow waves in gastrointestinal smooth muscle. Spingolipids are known to present in digestive system and are responsible for multiple important physiological and pathological processes. In this study, we are interested in the action of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) on ICC. S1P depolarized the membrane and increased tonic inward pacemaker currents. FTY720 phosphate (FTY720P, an S1P1,3,4,5 agonist) and SEW 2871 (an S1P1 agonist) had no effects on pacemaker activity. Suramin (an S1P3 antagonist) did not block the S1P-induced action on pacemaker currents. However, JTE-013 (an S1P2 antagonist) blocked the S1P-induced action. RT-PCR revealed the presence of the S1P2 in ICC. Calphostin C (a protein kinase C inhibitor), NS-398 (a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor), PD 98059 (a p42/44 inhibitor), or SB 203580 (a p38 inhibitor) had no effects on S1P-induced action. However, c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor II suppressed S1P-induced action. External Ca2+-free solution or thapsigargin (a Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor of endoplasmic reticulum) suppressed action of S1P on ICC. In recording of intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) concentration using fluo-4/AM S1P increased intensity of spontaneous [Ca2+]i oscillations in ICC. These results suggest that S1P can modulate pacemaker activity of ICC through S1P2 via regulation of external and internal Ca2+ and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation.