Cell cycle features of primate embryonic stem cells.
Using flow cytometry measurements combined with quantitative analysis of cell cycle kinetics, we show that rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are characterized by an extremely rapid transit through the G1 phase, which accounts for 15% of the total cell cycle duration. Monkey ESCs exhibit a non-phasic expression of cyclin E, which is detected during all phases of the cell cycle, and do not growth-arrest in G1 after gamma-irradiation, reflecting the absence of a G1 checkpoint. Serum deprivation or pharmacological inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) did not result in any alteration in the cell cycle distribution, indicating that ESC growth does not rely on mitogenic signals transduced by the Ras/Raf/MEK pathway. Taken together, these data indicate that rhesus monkey ESCs, like their murine counterparts, exhibit unusual cell cycle features in which cell cycle control mechanisms operating during the G1 phase are reduced or absent.
Fluckiger
Anne-Catherine
AC
INSERM, U371, Cerveau et Vision, Department of Stem Cells and Cortical Development, 18 avenue Doyen Lépine, 69500 Bron, France.
Marcy
Guillaume
G
Marchand
Mélanie
M
Négre
Didier
D
Cosset
François-Loïc
FL
Mitalipov
Shoukhrat
S
Wolf
Don
D
Savatier
Pierre
P
Dehay
Colette
C
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019927:Cyclin E / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016193:G1 Phase / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D005720:Gamma Rays; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000528:radiation effects; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D013045:Species Specificity; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
D019927:Cyclin E