Stapornwongkul Kristina S, Hahn Elisa, Poliński Patryk, Salamó Palau Laura, Arató Krisztina, Yao LiAng, Williamson Kate, Gritti Nicola, Anlas Kerim, Osuna Lopez Mireia, Patil Kiran R, Heemskerk Idse, Ebisuya Miki, Trivedi Vikas
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Barcelona, C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88, PRBB Building, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, EMBL Barcelona, C/ Dr. Aiguader, 88, PRBB Building, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Cell Stem Cell. 2025 May 1;32(5):744-758.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2025.03.011. Epub 2025 Apr 16.
Metabolic pathways can influence cell fate decisions, yet their regulative role during embryonic development remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate an instructive role of glycolytic activity in regulating signaling pathways involved in mesoderm and endoderm specification. Using a mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC)-based in vitro model for gastrulation, we found that glycolysis inhibition increases ectodermal cell fates at the expense of mesodermal and endodermal lineages. We demonstrate that this relationship is dose dependent, enabling metabolic control of germ layer proportions through exogenous glucose levels. We further show that glycolysis acts as an upstream regulator of Nodal and Wnt signaling and that its influence on cell fate specification can be decoupled from its effects on growth. Finally, we confirm the generality of our findings using a human gastrulation model. Our work underscores the dependence of signaling pathways on metabolic conditions and provides mechanistic insight into the nutritional regulation of cell fate decision-making.
代谢途径可影响细胞命运的决定,但其在胚胎发育过程中的调节作用仍知之甚少。在此,我们证明了糖酵解活性在调节中胚层和内胚层特化相关信号通路中具有指导作用。利用基于小鼠胚胎干细胞(mESC)的体外原肠胚形成模型,我们发现糖酵解抑制会增加外胚层细胞命运,而以牺牲中胚层和内胚层谱系为代价。我们证明这种关系是剂量依赖性的,能够通过外源葡萄糖水平对胚层比例进行代谢控制。我们进一步表明,糖酵解作为Nodal和Wnt信号的上游调节因子,其对细胞命运特化的影响可以与其对生长的影响脱钩。最后,我们使用人类原肠胚形成模型证实了我们研究结果的普遍性。我们的工作强调了信号通路对代谢条件的依赖性,并为细胞命运决定的营养调节提供了机制性见解。