Derivation of ground-state female ESCs maintaining gamete-derived DNA methylation [gene expression]

Preimplantation embryos undergo a transient wave of genome-wide demethylation with the exception of imprinted genes that are critical for fetal development. Here we show that the derivation of female mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the presence of inhibitors of MEK1/2 and Gsk3 (2i-ESCs), known as ‘2i’ or “ground-state” culture conditions, results in a widespread loss of DNA methylation including a massive erasure of genomic imprints. In this study, we analyzed global gene expression profile and global DNA methylation status in 2i-ESCs and 2i-ESCs derived differentiated cells. S-ESCs are ESCs established under serum-containing medium. 2i_S_ESCs are ESCs established in 2i-containing medium, followed by maintenance in serum-containing medium. Analyzing gene expression profiles in 2i-ESCs, S-ESCs, 2n-2i-MEFs, 4n-2i-MEFs, and control MEFs