PNAS
Revealing a core signaling regulatory mechanism for pluripotent stem cell survival and self-renewal by small molecules
Author Affiliations
- aDepartment of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
- bPediatric Research Center, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093
- Communicated by Steven P. Briggs, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, March 12, 2010 (received for review September 1, 2009)
Abstract
Using a high-throughput chemical screen, we identified two small molecules that enhance the survival of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). By characterizing their mechanisms of action, we discovered an essential role of E-cadherin signaling for ESC survival. Specifically, we showed that the primary cause of hESC death following enzymatic dissociation comes from an irreparable disruption of E-cadherin signaling, which then leads to a fatal perturbation of integrin signaling. Furthermore, we found that stability of E-cadherin and the resulting survival of ESCs were controlled by specific growth factor signaling. Finally, we generated mESC-like hESCs by culturing them in mESC conditions. And these converted hESCs rely more on E-cadherin signaling and significantly less on integrin signaling. Our data suggest that differential usage of cell adhesion systems by ESCs to maintain self-renewal may explain their profound differences in terms of morphology, growth factor requirement, and sensitivity to enzymatic cell dissociation.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sding@scripps.edu.
- Author contributions: Y.X. and S.D. designed research; Y.X. performed research; X.Z., H.S.H., W.W., E.H., and A.H. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Y.X. analyzed data; and Y.X. and S.D. wrote the paper.
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- This article contains supporting information online atwww.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/1002024107/DCSupplemental.