Transcriptomes dynamics during lentoid body induction

In order ro examine the fundamental mechanisms governing lentoid body induction, we analyzed the transcriptome changes occurred during the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into the lentoid body. The differentiation of hESCs was induced by a sequence of treatments of growth factors. In briefly, from day0 to day5 100ng/ul Noggin was applied; then combination of 100ng/ul bFGF, 20 ng/ml BMP4, 20 ng/ml BMP7 from day6 to day18 and finally combination of 100 ng/ml FGF2 and 20 ng/ml Wnt-3a from day18 to day35 to induce hESCs into lens progenitor cells and lentoid bodies. Undifferentiated hESCs as well as cells at Day6, Day18 and Day35 were paired-end sequenced using Illuminia Hiseq X ten. The results revealed dynamic transcription network during lens differentiation. We observed differential expression of gens involved in signaling pathways, which were considered to be necessary for lens development. These results provide a valuable resource for studying the mechanisms regulating in vitro lentoid body differentiation of hESCs and getting a glimpse of signaling pathway network in lens formation.