title: Effects of whole genome duplication on cell size and gene expression in mouse embryonic stem cells.
abstract: Alterations in ploidy tend to influence cell physiology, which in the long-term, contribute to species adaptation and evolution. Polyploid cells are observed under physiological conditions in the nerve and liver tissues, and in tumorigenic processes. Although tetraploid cells have been studied in mammalian cells, the basic characteristics and alterations caused by whole genome duplication are still poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to acquire basic knowledge about the effect of whole genome duplication on the cell cycle, cell size, and gene expression. Using flow cytometry, we demonstrate that cell cycle subpopulations in mouse tetraploid embryonic stem cells (TESCs) were similar to those in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). We performed smear preparations and flow cytometric analysis to identify cell size alterations. These indicated that the relative cell volume of TESCs was approximately 2.2-2.5 fold that of ESCs. We also investigated the effect of whole genome duplication on the expression of housekeeping and pluripotency marker genes using quantitative real-time PCR with external RNA. We found that the target transcripts were 2.2 times more abundant in TESCs than those in ESCs. This indicated that gene expression and cell volume increased in parallel. Our findings suggest the existence of a homeostatic mechanism controlling the cytoplasmic transcript levels in accordance with genome volume changes caused by whole genome duplication.
authors: Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy and Embryology, The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan.
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Imai
authors: Wataru
authors: W
authors: Fujii
authors: Ken Takeshi
authors: KT
authors: Kusakabe
authors: Yasuo
authors: Y
authors: Kiso
authors: Kiyoshi
authors: K
authors: Kano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D048429:Cell Size; D020440:Gene Duplication / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D016678:Genome; D051379:Mice; D000066450:Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D011123:Polyploidy