Human embryonic stem cells have enhanced repair of multiple forms of DNA damage

Scott Maynard, Anna Maria Swistowska, Jae Wan Lee, Ying Liu, Su-Ting Liu, Alexandre Bettencourt Da Cruz, Mahendra Rao, Nadja C de Souza-Pinto, Xianmin Zeng, Vilhelm A Bohr

152 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells need to maintain genomic integrity so that they can retain the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types without propagating DNA errors. Previous studies have suggested that mechanisms of genome surveillance, including DNA repair, are superior in mouse embryonic stem cells compared with various differentiated murine cells. Using single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) we found that human embryonic stem cells (BG01, I6) have more efficient repair of different types of DNA damage (generated from H2O2, UV-C, ionizing radiation, or psoralen) than human primary fibroblasts (WI-38, hs27) and, with the exception of UV-C damage, HeLa cells. Microarray gene expression analysis showed that mRNA levels of several DNA repair genes are elevated in human embryonic stem cells compared with their differentiated forms (embryoid bodies). These data suggest that genomic maintenance pathways are enhanced in human embryonic stem cells, relative to differentiated human cells.
Original languageEnglish
JournalStem Cells
Volume26
Issue number9
Pages (from-to)2266-74
Number of pages9
ISSN1066-5099
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2008

Keywords

  • Cell Differentiation
  • Comet Assay
  • DNA Damage
  • DNA Repair
  • Embryonic Stem Cells
  • Fibroblasts
  • Ficusin
  • Hela Cells
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Radiation, Ionizing
  • Ultraviolet Rays

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