Research
Human foreskin fibroblast produces interleukin-6 to support derivation and self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells
- † Equal contributors
1 Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine & Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China
2 Shanghai Stem Cell Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 225 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, China
3 Department of Tumor Cell Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38103, USA
4 Laboratory of Receptor-based BioMedicine, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Signaling and Disease Research, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
5 Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
6 Shanghai Research Center for Model Organisms, Shanghai 201203, China
7 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2012, 3:29 doi:10.1186/scrt120
Published: 31 July 2012Abstract
Introduction
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) provide an attractive cell source for basic research and disease treatment. Currently, the common culture system for mouse ESC requires mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) as a feeder layer supplemented with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). The drawbacks associated with MEF and the cost of LIF have motivated exploration of new feeder cell types to maintain self-renewal of mouse ESCs without the need of exogenous LIF. However, why these feeder cells could maintain ESCs at the undifferentiated state independent of exogenous LIF is unclear.
Methods
We derived mouse ESC lines using human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) in the absence of exogenous LIF. We also examined the dependence of HFF on the JAK-Stat3 pathway to maintain ESC identities and explored the potential molecular basis for HFF to support self-renewal of ESCs.
Results
HFF supported mouse ESC self-renewal superiorly to MEFs. Using the HFF system, multiple lines of mouse ESCs were successfully derived without addition of exogenous LIF and any small molecular inhibitors. These ESCs had capacities to self-renew for a long period of time and to differentiate into various cell types of the three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the ESCs participated in embryonic development and contributed to germ cell lineages in the chimeric mouse. At a molecular level, HFF was dependent on the JAK-Stat3 pathway to maintain ESC self-renewal. The high level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) produced by HFF might be responsible for the exogenous LIF-independent effect.
Conclusion
This study describes an efficient, convenient and economic system to establish and maintain mouse ESC lines, and provides insights into the functional difference in the support of ESC culture between MEF and HFF.
