Genome-wide analysis of gene expression regulated by calcineurin-NFAT signaling in mouse embryonic stem cells

Self-renewal and pluripotency are hallmarks of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). However, signaling pathways triggering their transition from self-renewal to differentiation are not well defined. Here, we report that the calcineurin-NFAT signaling pathway is both necessary and sufficient to switch ESCs from an undifferentiated state to early differentiation.To gain an insight into the function of calcinerin-NFAT signaling in ESC lineage commitment, we examined the repertoire of genes changed after LIF withdrawal alone, LIF withdrawal in the presence of cyclosporine A (CsA), a specific inhibitor of calcinerin and forced expression of active forms of calcineurin (deltaCnA) in the presence of LIF,and identified distinct classes of up and down regulated genes by calcineurin-NFAT signaling in mouse embryonic stem cells. Total RNA obtained from CGR8 ES cells under the following conditions: withdrawal of LIF for 0, 1 and 3 days; withdrawal of LIF for 0, 1 and 3 days in the presence of CsA, and induced expression of deltaCnA by withdrawal of Tc for 0, 1 and 4 days in ideltaCnAES cells.Hybridized to Illumina Sentrix Mouse-6 v1.1 Beadhips