The metabolic network model of primed/naive human embryonic stem cells underlines the importance of oxidation-reduction potential and tryptophan metabolism in primed pluripotency
Abstract:Background
Pluripotency is proposed to exist in two different stages: Naive and Primed. Conventional human pluripotent cells are essentially in the primed stage. In recent years, several protocols have claimed to generate naive human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). To the best of our knowledge, none of these protocols is currently recognized as the gold standard method. Furthermore, the consistency of the resulting cells from these diverse protocols at the molecular level is yet to be shown. Additio… Show more
“…At day 17, iPSCs on pAAm downregulated pathways related to cell adhesion (Focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and Cell adhesion molecules) as well as Axon guidance, and Antigen processing and presentation pathways compared to TCPS ( Figure 5 ), which are reported to be downregulated in mESC and naïve hESC. [31,34,35]…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…At day 17, iPSCs on pAAm downregulated pathways related to cell adhesion (Focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and Cell adhesion molecules) as well as Axon guidance, and Antigen processing and presentation pathways compared to TCPS (Figure 5), which are reported to be downregulated in mESC and naïve hESC. [31,34,35] At day 3, reprogramming cells in pAAm gel significantly downregulated many metabolism pathways (which included Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis, Citrate cycle and oxidative phosphorylation) compared to TCPS (Figure 6). After Day 3, cells on the pAAm hydrogel started to upregulate various metabolic pathways, which were maximised at the end of reprogramming.…”
Section: Hydrogel Modulates Signalling and Metabolic Pathways That Su...mentioning
Cell reprogramming involves time-intensive, costly processes that ultimately produce low numbers of reprogrammed cells of variable quality. By screening a range of polyacrylamide hydrogels (pAAm gels) of varying stiffness (1 kPA – 1.3 MPa) we found that a gel of medium stiffness significantly increases the overall number of reprogrammed cells by up to ten-fold with accelerated reprogramming kinetics, as compared to the standard Tissue Culture PolyStyrene (TCPS)-based protocol. We observe that though the gel improves both early and late phases of reprogramming, improvement in the late (reprogramming prone population maturation) phase is more pronounced and produces iPSCs having different characteristics and lower remnant transgene expression than those produced on TCPS. Comparative RNA-Seq analyses coupled with experimental validation reveals that modulation of Bone Morphogenic Protein (BMP) signalling by a novel reprogramming regulator, Phactr3, upregulated in the gel at an earliest time-point without the influence of transcription factors used for reprogramming, plays a crucial role in the improvement in the early reprogramming kinetics and overall reprogramming outcomes. This study provides new insights into the mechanism via which substrate stiffness modulates reprogramming kinetics and iPSC quality outcomes, opening new avenues for producing higher numbers of quality iPSCs or other reprogrammed cells at shorter timescales.
“…At day 17, iPSCs on pAAm downregulated pathways related to cell adhesion (Focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and Cell adhesion molecules) as well as Axon guidance, and Antigen processing and presentation pathways compared to TCPS ( Figure 5 ), which are reported to be downregulated in mESC and naïve hESC. [31,34,35]…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…At day 17, iPSCs on pAAm downregulated pathways related to cell adhesion (Focal adhesion, ECM-receptor interaction, and Cell adhesion molecules) as well as Axon guidance, and Antigen processing and presentation pathways compared to TCPS (Figure 5), which are reported to be downregulated in mESC and naïve hESC. [31,34,35] At day 3, reprogramming cells in pAAm gel significantly downregulated many metabolism pathways (which included Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis, Citrate cycle and oxidative phosphorylation) compared to TCPS (Figure 6). After Day 3, cells on the pAAm hydrogel started to upregulate various metabolic pathways, which were maximised at the end of reprogramming.…”
Section: Hydrogel Modulates Signalling and Metabolic Pathways That Su...mentioning
Cell reprogramming involves time-intensive, costly processes that ultimately produce low numbers of reprogrammed cells of variable quality. By screening a range of polyacrylamide hydrogels (pAAm gels) of varying stiffness (1 kPA – 1.3 MPa) we found that a gel of medium stiffness significantly increases the overall number of reprogrammed cells by up to ten-fold with accelerated reprogramming kinetics, as compared to the standard Tissue Culture PolyStyrene (TCPS)-based protocol. We observe that though the gel improves both early and late phases of reprogramming, improvement in the late (reprogramming prone population maturation) phase is more pronounced and produces iPSCs having different characteristics and lower remnant transgene expression than those produced on TCPS. Comparative RNA-Seq analyses coupled with experimental validation reveals that modulation of Bone Morphogenic Protein (BMP) signalling by a novel reprogramming regulator, Phactr3, upregulated in the gel at an earliest time-point without the influence of transcription factors used for reprogramming, plays a crucial role in the improvement in the early reprogramming kinetics and overall reprogramming outcomes. This study provides new insights into the mechanism via which substrate stiffness modulates reprogramming kinetics and iPSC quality outcomes, opening new avenues for producing higher numbers of quality iPSCs or other reprogrammed cells at shorter timescales.
“…5), which are reported to be downregulated in mESC and naïve hESC. [31,34,35] At day 3, reprogramming cells in pAAm gel signi cantly downregulated many metabolism pathways (which included Glycolysis/Gluconeogenesis, Citrate cycle and oxidative phosphorylation) compared to TCPS (Fig. 6).…”
Section: Hydrogel Modulates Signalling and Metabolic Pathways That Su...mentioning
Background:Human cell reprogramming traditionally involves time-intensive, multi-stage, costly tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS)-based cell culture practices that ultimately produce low numbers of reprogrammed cells of variable quality. Previous studies have shown that very soft two-and three-dimensional hydrogel substrates/matrices (of stiffnesses </= 1 kPa) can drive ~2X improvements in human cell reprogramming outcomes. Unfortunately, these similarly complex multi-stage protocols lack intrinsic scalability, and furthermore, the associated underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated, limiting the potential to further maximise reprogramming outcomes.
Methods:Polyacrylamide hydrogels of varying stiffness (1 kPa – 1.3 MPa) were surface activated with either Sulfo-SAMPAH or poly-L-dopamine and thereafter gelatin functionalised. Mouse and human fibroblast cells were reprogrammed on these substrates using endogenous (mouse) or exogenous (human) transcription factors for 18 days. Cells were phenotyped during the each of the reprogramming phases. RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis elucidated critical molecular drivers of reprogramming upon exposure to the hydrogels, confirmed through gene knockdown experiments.
Results:In screening the largest range of polyacrylamide hydrogels of varying stiffness to date, we found that a medium stiffness gel (~100 kPa) significantly increased the overall number of reprogrammed cells by up to ten-fold (10X), accelerated reprogramming kinetics, improved both early and late phases of reprogramming, and produced iPSCs having more naïve characteristics and lower remnant transgene expression, compared to the gold standard tissue culture polystyrene practice. Functionalisation of these pAAm hydrogels with poly-L-dopamine (PDA) enabled, for the first-time, continuous, single-step reprogramming of fibroblasts to iPSCs on hydrogel substrates (noting that even the TCPS practice is a two-stage process). Comparative RNA-Seq analyses coupled with experimental validation revealed that a novel reprogramming regulator, Phactr3, upregulated in the gel condition at a very early time-point, was responsible for the observed enhanced reprogramming outcomes.
Conclusions:This study provides a novel culture protocol and substrate for continuous hydrogel-based cell reprogramming and previously unattained clarity of the underlying mechanisms via which substrate stiffness modulates reprogramming kinetics and iPSC quality outcomes, opening new avenues for producing higher numbers of quality iPSCs or other reprogrammed cells at shorter timescales.
“…The targets of this network affect different cellular features of ESC, including their interaction with the microenvironment, their shape and their cellular metabolism. In ESC compared to differentiated cells, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is low and ATP synthesis is more dependent on glycolysis [16][17][18][19][20]. In addition, inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity causes a significant increase in lactate levels and acidification of the microenvironment; while mTOR and HIF pathway activities favour glycolysis [21,22].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…These changes in cell metabolism or microenvironment composition accompanying changes in pluripotency status might actually play a pivotal role in the regulation of cell fate and commitment. The coordination of the activity of the pluripotency network with other unique cellular features of ESC, including cell metabolism, remains to be clarified [17,21,23].…”
Embryonic stem cells (ESC) have the unique ability to differentiate into all three germ cell layers. ESC transition through different states of pluripotency in response to growth factor signals and environmental cues before becoming terminally differentiated. Here, we demonstrated, by a multi-omic strategy, that the deubiquitinase USP9X regulates the developmental potential of ESC, and their transition from a naive to a more developmentally advance, or primed, state of pluripotency. We show that USP9X facilitates developmental gene expression and induces modifications of the mitochondrial bioenergetics, including decreased routing of pyruvate towards its oxidation and reduced respiration. In addition, USP9X binds to the pluripotency factor ESRRB, regulates its abundance and the transcriptional levels of a subset of its target genes. Finally, under permissive culture conditions, depletion of Usp9X accelerates cell differentiation in all cell lineages. We thus identified a new regulator of naive pluripotency and show that USP9X couples ESRRB pluripotency transcriptional network and cellular metabolism, both of which are important for ESC fate and pluripotency.
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