Effect of miR-203 on the transcriptomic profile of IPSCs and IPSC-derived teratomas

The balance between pluripotency and differentiation is critical during development and regeneration. miR-203 is a microRNA previously involved in differentiation of different tissues as well as in tumor suppression in multiple malignancies. We have shown that miR-203 is able to promote differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells without decreasing pluripotency. We have observed that transient expression of miR-203 significantly improves the efficiency of ES/iPS cells in the generation of quimeras and tetraploid complementation assays, in addition to inducing complex embryo-like structures when these pluripotent cells are injected in mice. In the present RNA seq, we intend to analyze the trascriptomic profile of WT IPSCs, compared to miR-203 KO IPSCs and miR-203 tKI IPSCs (in which we have induced a transient over-expression of miR-203). Moreover, we analyze the mRNA profiles of the teratomas derived from those IPSCs. Overall design: The general idea was to analyze the transcriptomic profile of miR-203 transiently over-expressing IPSCs, and compare it with WT IPSCs and miR-203 KO IPSCs profiles. Also, we have included mRNA samples extracted from teratomas generated by inoculation of those IPSCs in mice. In the present RNA seq, the gene expression of different clones was tested. Two independent pools of clones from two independent experiments were represented in iPS KI_C1 and C2 (miR-203 cKI iPS cells transiently-treated with DOX to induce miR-203 over-expression). And the same applies to the samples iPS KO_C3 and C4 (miR-203 KO iPS cells) and the samples iPS WT_C1 and C6. The teratomas generated subcutaneously in nude cells and derived from those WT, miR-203 cKI and miR-203 KO iPS cells were tested in this experiment as samples TERAT_WT, TERAT_KO and TERAT_KI 1 and 2. Each of the samples named as TERAT_KI_1, TERAT_KI_2, TERAT_KO and TERAT_WT represent a pool of two teratomas derived from the respective IPSCs.