1 Flashcards
what is a stem cell
cells that have the potential to generate specialised tissues (differentiate) as well as copies of themselves (replication)
what can totipotent stem cells differentiate into
all cell types of the body
what can pluripotent stem cells differentiate into
derivatives of the 3 germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm)
what can multipotent stem cells differentiate into
different cell types from a tissue or organ (tissue specific)
what can unipotent stem cells differentiate into
only a single cell type
what is an allogenic transplant
stem cells are derived from a different donor and are expanded in the lab – eg embryonic stem cells, cord blood cells
what is an autologous transplant
stem cells transplanted are derived from same patient – expanded and treated outside the body and re-implanted into same patient eg auto transplant of bone barrow cells or producing iPSCs
what are the pluripotency factors
SOX2, OCT4, MYC and KLF4
what can stem cells provide models for?
- models to screen new drugs
- models to study genetic conditions
- models for oth
what are embryonic carcinoma cells
Embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells are the stem cells of teratocarcinomas, and the malignant counterparts of embryonic stem (ES) cells derived from the inner cell mass of blastocyst-stage embryos
EC and ESCs grow better on a feeder layer T/F
T
list properties of ES cells
- derived from ICM of blastocysts
- indefinite proliferative potential
- clonogenic
- pluripotent
- germline transmission to chimeras
- permissive to genetic manipulation
what is LIF (leukaemic inhibitory factor) important for?
self renewal state
how does LIF work
interacts with LIF receptor which combines with gp130. Activates JAK pathway which upregulates STAT3 which is critical to maintain proliferation
also activates ERK1/2 kinase by binding SH2 which has an inhibitory effect on STAT3 and induces differentiation
what determines the balance of self renewal and differentiation
balance of STAT3 and ERK1/2
if concentration of LIF is low what happens to cells
differentiate
if conc of LIF is high what happens to cells
self renew
LIF alone is not sufficient to do what
maintain pluripotency
block neural differentiation
what did ying 2003 show that you need BMP4 and LIF for
LIF blocks differentiation into mesoderm and endoderm
BMPs induce genes that block differentiation into neurons
overall lead to blocking of differentiation and maintenance of pluripotency
what surface markers do both hES and mES show
ALP+, OCT4+ and Nanog +
what surface markers do hES show not including ALP+, OCT4+ and Nanog +
SSEA3, SSEA4, TRA-1-60, GCTM2, Thy1, MHC
what surface markers do hES show not including ALP+, OCT4+ and Nanog +
SSEA1
what is mouse hES pluripotency maintained by
presence of LIF and inhibitors of ERK1/2 and GSK3b
what is human hES pluripotency maintained by
FGF2 and activin
what do the mouse and human epiblasts differ in
the timing of their formation
what are human escs the equivalent to in mouse
mouse epiblast cells
what are the two stages of pluripotency and what cells represent them
naive - mES
primed - mEpiESC or hES
what did gaffini do to try and capture a true naive hESC
exposed cells to different combinations of factors. Used Oct4-GFP to visualise pluripotency. Oct4 is controlled by different enhancers in naive and primed so can tell what state the cell is by deleting either of the enhancers. Found 8 factors (NHSM) which changed a primed cell into a more naive cell
why are naive HESC important
- give fundamental understanding of pluripotency
- easier to modify genetically
- potential application for humanised organs as evidenced by human-mouse chimerism (can’t be done with primed)
what are the intrinsic factors that control pluripotency
SOX4
OCT4
NANOG
The Niwa 2000 paper found that relative levels of Oct3/4 influence ES cell fate. T/F
T
what does upregulation of Oct4 lead to
extraembryonic endoderm and mesoderm
what does downregulation of Oct4 give
trophoectoderm
without oct4 was does the embryo fail to acquire
the potential for the production of different lineages
the interaction between oct4 and what determines trophoectoderm differentiation (Niwa 200)
Cdx2
OCt4 and Cdx2 bind in a complex that inhibits their individual transcriptional activity. When theres low expression of Oct4 there is high expression of Cdx2. What has forced overexpression of cdx2 been found to lead to
trophoblast differentiation
embryos where Sox2 is deleted fail to generate what?
epiblast
nanog was identified in 2 independent screens by who
Mitsui (2003) and chambers (2003)
how did the mitsui in silico screen identify nanog
look for genes highly expressed in ES cell population
found that nanog rescued LIF deficiency
how did the chambers functional screen identify nanog
transfected cells with ES cell genes
looked for cell displaying more pluripotent properties. Put nanog in cells that were deficient in LIF receptor and showed it could maintain pluripotency
what happens to nanog deficient cells
lose pluripotency and differentiate to form the extraembryonic endoderm
using FACs for Nanog GFP+ found what
nanog expression is heterogenous in the cell population. it may act as a rheostat to provide variable resistance to differentiation
what are embryoid bodies
heterogenous aggregates that resemble an organised embryo
what signalling mediates self organisation and axis formation in embryoid bodies
Wnt signalling
what are the pros of using embryoid bodies to produce differentiated cells
cheap to produce
generate 3 germ layers
what are the cons of using embryoid bodies to produce differentiated cells
difficult to control aggregation in a reproducible way
number of days before differentiated cells can be collected
dont get enrichment of particular lineage
how can you isolate desired cell types
- FACs
- using density gradients
- inserting selectable markers (good for research)
summarise the generation of purified neural precursors from ES cell paper Li (1998)
used Sox2 to drive ectodermal differentiation
replaced one allele with casette that had LacZ reporter and neomycin resistance
enriched for cells expressing Sox2 (survive on neomycin)
obtained relatively pure population of neurons
summarise the D’Amour et al(2006) Productin of Pancreatic hormone-expressing
endocrine cells from human embryonic stem cells study
developed a differentiation protocol that mimicked in vivo formation of pancreatic cells
measured C peptide to measure levels of processing insulin
first derived fetal cells
how did Kroon 2008 follow D’amour 2006
adapted the protocol with hope to avoid fetal cells.
tested these cells in vivo in mouse models of diabetes
how did they test if the pancreatic cells worked in vivo
implanted into mice.
measured each mouses response to glucose via the production of C peptide (made when insulin is processed)
measured in a mouse diabetes model
The transplanted cells were able to reduce blood glucode
what did kroon 2008 do to confirm that it was the transplanted cells that reduced the blood glucose
explanted the cells (removed them) and saw that the blood glucose increased rapidly
although the results from kroon 2008 were promising. What negative results were seen
15% of the mice developed cells suggesting that the transplanted cells were contaminated
how did kelly 2011 cause no animals to obtain tumours
enriched the cells for endocrine pancreatic progenitors using the cell surface marker CD142
none of the implanted animals formed tumours
what did the osafune paper show
that there are differences in the differentiation propensities between different cell lines
what is said to be the future of 3D differentiation
organoids - get the formation of an organ with the lineage that you want.
what did the expereiments by john gurdon find
found that mature cells could be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.. Found all cells had the same genes. When nucleus for an intestine cell was placed in an enucleated it was able to form progeny that had phenotypic characteristics of the frog that the intestine cell was taken from