title: Vitamin C facilitates pluripotent stem cell maintenance by promoting pluripotency gene transcription.
abstract: Vitamin C has recently received attention because of its ability to improve induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generation [1-3] and maintain a blastocyst-like state in ES cells [4]. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we found that vitamin C maintained the morphology of mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) colonies and inhibited mESC differentiation. Gene expression profiling revealed that the genes down-regulated by vitamin C were grouped in the regulation of differentiation and development, while most of the up-regulated genes were enriched in the regulation of transcription involving numerous pluripotency factors, which was further confirmed by real time quantitative PCR. For the key pluripotency factor Nanog, vitamin C increased its promoter activity and protein level. In addition, pathway screening indicated that vitamin C may affect various signaling pathways. Our study provides new insights into vitamin C-mediated pluripotency maintenance of mESCs.
authors: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China; College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Gao
authors: Liping
authors: L
authors: Yang
authors: Linlin
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Xiangxue
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Haibo
authors: H
authors: Wu
authors: Zhiying
authors: Z
authors: Ai
authors: Juan
authors: J
authors: Du
authors: Ye
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Shi
authors: Yongyan
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: Zekun
authors: Z
authors: Guo
authors: Yong
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D000071317:Nanog Homeobox Protein; C475540:Nanog protein, mouse; D001205:Ascorbic Acid
keywords: Nanog; Pluripotency; Reprogramming; Vitamin C; iPSCs