Tonge Peter D, Shigeta Masaki, Schroeder Timm, Andrews Peter W
Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, UK.
Stem Cell Res. 2011 Sep;7(2):145-53. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2011.04.006. Epub 2011 May 11.
Human embryonic stem (ES) cells can undergo spontaneously differentiation in standard culture conditions, demonstrating that the undifferentiated state is relatively unstable. The heterogeneous expression of SSEA3 observed within human ES colonies, provides a means to examine undifferentiated stem cell substates. Through functional testing of single cells we have shown that undifferentiated ES cells can be segregated into functionally discrete subpopulations on the basis of SSEA3 expression: SSEA3(High), SSEA(Low) and SSEA3(Negative). Human ES subpopulations were found to be interconvertible, but they possess distinct properties when challenged to differentiate along the neural lineage. These data suggest that ES cells with pluripotent/self-renewal capacities can exhibit different responses to induction of differentiation.
人类胚胎干细胞（ES细胞）在标准培养条件下会自发分化，这表明未分化状态相对不稳定。在人类ES细胞集落中观察到的阶段特异性胚胎抗原-3（SSEA3）的异质性表达，为研究未分化干细胞亚状态提供了一种方法。通过单细胞功能测试，我们发现未分化的ES细胞可以根据SSEA3表达分为功能上离散的亚群：SSEA3（高表达）、SSEA（低表达）和SSEA3（阴性）。研究发现人类ES亚群是可以相互转换的，但当沿着神经谱系诱导分化时，它们具有不同的特性。这些数据表明，具有多能性/自我更新能力的ES细胞对分化诱导可表现出不同的反应。
