title: Differential expression of the Wnt and Frizzled genes in Flk1+ cells derived from mouse ES cells.
abstract: Embryonic stem (ES) cells have the potential to develop into various cell lineages including hemangioblasts (Flk1+), a common progenitor for hematopoietic and vascular endothelial cells. Previous studies indicate that Flk1+ cells, a marker for hemangioblast, can be derived from ES cell and that Flk1+ can be differentiated into hematopoietic or endothelial cells depending on culture conditions. We developed an improved in vitro system to generate Flk1+-enriched cultures from mouse ES cells and used this in vitro system to study the role of Wnt signalling in early endothelial progenitor cells. We determined the expression of the Wnt and Frizzled genes in Flk1+ cells derived from mouse ES cells. RT-PCR analyses identified significantly higher expression of non-canonical Wnt5a and Wnt11 genes in Flk1+ cells compared to Flk1- cells. In contrast, expression of canonical Wnt3a gene was reduced in Flk1+ cells. In addition, Frizzled2, Frizzled5 and Frizzled7 genes were also expressed at a higher level in Flk1+ cells. The differential expression of Wnt and Frizzled genes in Flk1+ cells provides a novel insight into the role of non-canonical Wnt signalling in vascular endothelial fate determination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Molecular Disease Research Center, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Dae Joong
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chun Shik
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jeong Kyo
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Woo Keun
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051157:Frizzled Receptors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D000071818:Wnt-5a Protein
chemical_list: D051157:Frizzled Receptors; C489743:Fzd2 protein, mouse; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D000071818:Wnt-5a Protein; C508957:Wnt11 protein, mouse; C438615:Wnt5a protein, mouse; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2