Effect of mechanical stress on stemness of embryonic stem cells

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Mechanical strain has been reported to affect the proliferation/differentiation of many cell types. however, the effects of mechanotransduction on embryonic stem (ES) cells remains unknown. To investigate the effects of mechanical strain on ES cell fate, we examined the expression of Nanog as well as Nanog-associated intracellular signaling during uniaxial cyclic stretch. The mouse ES cell was plated onto elastic membranes, and we applied 10% strain at 0.16 Hz. The expression of Nanog was reduced during ES cell differentiation in response to the withdrawal of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF); however, two days of mechanical strain attenuated this reduction of Nanog expression. On the other hand, the mechanical strain promoted PI3K-Akt signaling, which is reported as an upstream of Nanog transcription.These findings imply that mechanical force plays a role in regulating Nanog expression in ES cells through the actin cytoskeleton-PI3K-Akt signaling.