Notch signaling is inactive but inducible in human embryonic stem cells.
The NOTCH signaling pathway performs a wide range of critical functions in a number of different cell types during development and differentiation. The role of NOTCH signals in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has not been tested. We measured the activity of canonical NOTCH signaling in undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) cells and tested the requirement for NOTCH activity in hESC self-renewal or differentiation by growing hESCs in the presence of gamma-secretase inhibitors. Our results suggest that NOTCH signaling is not required for the propagation of undifferentiated human ES cells but instead is required for the maintenance of the differentiating cell types that accumulate in human ES cell cultures. Our studies suggest that NOTCH signaling is not required in human embryonic differentiation until the formation of extraembryonic, germ layer, or tissue-specific stem cells and progenitors.
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Scott A
SA
Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Davison Life Sciences Complex, Athens, 30602, USA.
Weiler
Deborah
D
Condie
Brian G
BG
D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; D002412:Cations / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology*; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*
D002412:Cations; D002614:Chelating Agents; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D010450:Endopeptidases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C509280:BACE1 protein, human