RA drives a NELFA-mediated (negative elongation factor A) 2C-like cells in mouse ESCs

A small population of ESCs sporadically resembled into 2-cell stage embryos features in serum and leukemia inhibitory factor containing culture condition. However, whether 2-cell-like (2C-like) cells induced in the chemically defined media remains largely unknown. Here, we report a robust in vitro induction system based on retinoic acid (RA) contained chemically defined media without any genetic manipulation and serum which can efficiently increases 2C-like cells in ESCs.

在含血清与白血病抑制因子的培养条件下，少量胚胎干细胞（Embryonic Stem Cells, ESCs）会零星呈现出二细胞期胚胎的特征。然而，目前对于在化学成分明确的培养基中是否可诱导产生类二细胞（2C-like）细胞，相关研究仍不甚明确。本研究报道了一套稳健的体外诱导体系：该体系基于含视黄酸（retinoic acid, RA）的化学成分明确培养基，无需任何基因操作与血清，可有效提升胚胎干细胞中类二细胞细胞的占比。