Huang Tingting, Rivera-Pérez Jaime A
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01655.
Genesis. 2014 Apr;52(4):300-8. doi: 10.1002/dvg.22761. Epub 2014 Mar 28.
Senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity is widely used as a marker of cellular senescence and as an indicator of organismal aging. Here, we report that SA-β-gal activity is present in the visceral endoderm layer of early postimplantation mouse embryos in predictable patterns that vary as the embryo progresses in development. However, determination of the mitotic index and analysis of the expression of Cdkn1a (p21), a marker of senescent cells, do not indicate cellular senescence. Instead, analysis of embryos in culture revealed the presence of SA-β-gal activity in apical vacuoles of visceral endoderm cells likely a reflection of acidic β-galactosidase function in these organelles. SA-β-gal serves as a practical marker of the dynamics of the visceral endoderm that can be applied to developmental as well as functional studies of early mammalian embryos.
衰老相关β-半乳糖苷酶(SA-β-gal)活性被广泛用作细胞衰老的标志物和机体衰老的指标。在此,我们报告SA-β-gal活性以可预测的模式存在于植入后早期小鼠胚胎的内胚层中,该模式随胚胎发育进程而变化。然而,有丝分裂指数的测定和衰老细胞标志物Cdkn1a(p21)表达的分析并未表明存在细胞衰老。相反,对培养胚胎的分析显示,在内胚层细胞的顶端液泡中存在SA-β-gal活性,这可能反映了这些细胞器中酸性β-半乳糖苷酶的功能。SA-β-gal可作为内胚层动态变化的实用标志物,应用于早期哺乳动物胚胎的发育及功能研究。