Nicotinamide promotes cell survival and differentiation as kinase inhibitor in human pluripotent stem cells

We examined the effect of nicotinamide on cell survival and differentiation in human pluripotent stem cells. Nicotinamide inhibited the phosphorylation of myosin light chain, suppressed actomyosin contraction, and led to improved cell survival after individualization. Then we analyzed the global gene expression profile after 24 hours of nicotinamide and ROCK inhibitor treatment, and found that the gene expression profile of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) treated with nicotinamide was much different from that of ROCK inhibitor treatment. Further analysis demonstrates that nicotinamide is an inhibitor of multiple kinases, including ROCK and CK1. We demonstrated that nicotinamide affected human embryonic stem cell (hESC) pluripotency and differentiation as a selective kinase inhibitor. Total RNA obtained from human embryonic stem cell (hESC) culture in E8 medium (E8 24 hrs), E8 medium with nicotinamide 10 mM treatment (Nam 24 hrs), or E8 medium with 10 μM ROCK inhibitor Y27632 treatment (ROCKi 24 hrs) for 24 hours. HESCs were treated with BMP4 for 6 days as mesoderm differentiation control (Mesoderm).