Identification of molecules derived from human fibroblast feeder cells that support the proliferation of human embryonic stem cells

Sergey V. Anisimov, Nicolaj S. Christophersen, Ana S. Correia, Vanessa Jane Hall, Ingrid Sandeling, Jia-Yi Li, Patrik Brundin

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The majority of human embryonic stem cell lines depend on a feeder cell layer for continuous growth in vitro, so that they can remain in an undifferentiated state. Limited knowledge is available concerning the molecular mechanisms that underlie the capacity of feeder cells to support both the proliferation and pluripotency of these cells. Importantly, feeder cells generally lose their capacity to support human embryonic stem cell proliferation in vitro following long-term culture. In this study, we performed large-scale gene expression profiles of human foreskin fibroblasts during early, intermediate and late passages using a custom DNA microarray platform (NeuroStem 2.0 Chip). The microarray data was validated using RT-PCR and virtual SAGE analysis. Our comparative gene expression study identified a limited number of molecular targets potentially involved in the ability of human neonatal foreskin fibroblasts to serve as feeder cells for human embryonic stem cell cultures. Among these, the C-KIT, leptin and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) genes were the most interesting candidates.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalCellular & Molecular Biology Letters
    Volume16
    Issue number1
    Pages (from-to)79-88
    Number of pages10
    ISSN1425-8153
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2011

    Keywords

    • Former LIFE faculty

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