title: Zinc Chloride Transiently Maintains Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency by Activating Stat3 Signaling.
abstract: An improved understanding of the pluripotency maintenance of embryonic stem (ES) cells is important for investigations of early embryo development and for cell replacement therapy, but the mechanism behind pluripotency is still incompletely understood. Recent findings show that zinc, an essential trace element in humans, is critically involved in regulating various signaling pathways and genes expression. However, its role in ES cell fate determination remains to be further explored. Here we showed that 2μM zinc chloride (ZnCl2) transiently maintained mouse ES cell pluripotency in vitro. The cultured mouse ES cells remained undifferentiated under 2μM ZnCl2 treatment in leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) withdrawal, retinoic acid (RA) or embryoid bodies (EBs) differentiation assays. In addition, ZnCl2 increased pluripotency genes expression and inhibited differentiation genes expression. Further mechanistic studies revealed that ZnCl2 transiently activated signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (Stat3) signaling through promoting Stat3 phosphorylation. Inhibition of Stat3 signaling abrogated the effects of ZnCl2 on mouse ES cell pluripotency. Taken together, this study demonstrated a critical role of zinc in the pluripotency maintenance of mouse ES cells, as well as an important regulator of Stat3 signaling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.|The First Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Shiying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Liwen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.|The First Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jiajing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002712:Chlorides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D000066450:Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D002712:Chlorides; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494087:Stat3 protein, mouse; D017967:Zinc Compounds; C016837:zinc chloride