부산대학교 도서관

Background: We have recently shown that expression of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is required for LIFdependent pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Methodology: In this study, we have assessed global transcript expression in E-cadherin null (Ecad-/-) ES cells cultured in either the presence or absence of LIF and compared these to the parental cell line wtD3. Results: We show that LIF has little effect on the transcript profile of Ecad-/- ES cells, with statistically significant transcript alterations observed only for Sp8 and Stat3. Comparison of Ecad-/- and wtD3 ES cells cultured in LIF demonstrated significant alterations in the transcript profile, with effects not only confined to cell adhesion and motility but also affecting, for example, primary metabolic processes, catabolism and genes associated with apoptosis. Ecad-/- ES cells share similar, although not identical, gene expression profiles to epiblast-derived pluripotent stem cells, suggesting that E-cadherin expression may inhibit inner cell mass to epiblast transition. We further show that Ecad-/- ES cells maintain a functional bcatenin pool that is able to induce &bgr;-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation but, contrary to previous findings, do not display endogenous b-catenin/TCF-mediated transactivation. We conclude that loss of E-cadherin in mouse ES cells leads to significant transcript alterations independently of &bgr;-catenin/TCF transactivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]