Lee Dong-Seok, Yu Kweon, Rho Jeung-Yon, Lee Eunyoung, Han Jee-Soo, Koo Deog-Bon, Cho Yee Sook, Kim Janghwan, Lee Kyung-Kwang, Han Yong-Mahn
Laboratory of Human Genomics, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon 300-303, Republic of Korea.
Life Sci. 2006 Dec 14;80(2):154-9. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2006.08.039. Epub 2006 Sep 23.
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are able to differentiate into various cell types, including neuronal cells and glial cells. However, little information is available regarding astrocyte differentiation. This report describes the differentiation of hESCs into nestin- and GFAP-expressing astrocytes following treatment with cyclopamine, which is an inhibitor of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling, and culturing in human astrocyte medium (HAM). In hESCs, cyclopamine treatment suppressed the expression of Hh signaling molecules, the Hh signaling target gene, and ESC-specific markers. Clyclopamine also induced the differentiation of the cells at the edges of the hESC colonies, and these cells stained positively for the early neural marker nestin. Subsequent culturing in HAM promoted the expression of the astrocyte-specific marker GFAP, and these cells were also nestin-positive. These findings indicate that treatment with cyclopamine followed by culturing in HAM leads to the differentiation of hESCs into nestin- and GFAP-expressing astrocytic lineage.
人胚胎干细胞（hESCs）能够分化为多种细胞类型，包括神经元细胞和神经胶质细胞。然而，关于星形胶质细胞分化的信息却很少。本报告描述了在用环杷明（一种Hedgehog（Hh）信号通路抑制剂）处理后，并在人星形胶质细胞培养基（HAM）中培养，hESCs分化为表达巢蛋白和胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）的星形胶质细胞的过程。在hESCs中，环杷明处理抑制了Hh信号分子、Hh信号靶基因和ESC特异性标志物的表达。环杷明还诱导了hESC集落边缘细胞的分化，这些细胞对早期神经标志物巢蛋白呈阳性染色。随后在HAM中培养促进了星形胶质细胞特异性标志物GFAP的表达，并且这些细胞也是巢蛋白阳性的。这些发现表明，先用环杷明处理，然后在HAM中培养，可导致hESCs分化为表达巢蛋白和GFAP的星形胶质细胞谱系。
