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Defining embryonic stem cell identity using differentiation-related microRNAs and their potential targets

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Abstract

Defining the identity of embryonic stem (ES) cells in quantitative molecular terms is a prerequisite to understanding their functional characteristics. Little is known about the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the regulation of ES cell identity. Statistical analysis of miRNA expression revealed unique expression signatures that could definitively classify mouse ES (mES), embryoid bodies (mEB), and somatic tissues. Analysis of these data sets also provides further confirmation of the nonrestrictive expression of miRNAs during murine development. Using combined genome-wide expression analyses of both miRNAs and mRNAs, we observed both negative and positive correlations in gene expression between miRNAs and their predicted targets. ES-specific miRNAs were positively correlated with their predicted targets, suggesting that mES-specific miRNAs may have a different role or mechanism in regulating their targets in mES maintenance or differentiation. The concept of cellular identity has changed with technology; this study redefines cellular identity by a generic statistical method of known dimension.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partly supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation initiative in RNA science and a grant from the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation at the University of Colorado awarded to WMS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&D, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California, 94404, USA

    Caifu Chen, Dana Ridzon, Julie Blake & Yongming Sun

  2. MCD Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    Chung-Tien Lee & William M. Strauss

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  1. Caifu Chen
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  2. Dana Ridzon
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  3. Chung-Tien Lee
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  4. Julie Blake
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  5. Yongming Sun
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  6. William M. Strauss
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Correspondence to William M. Strauss.

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Chen, C., Ridzon, D., Lee, CT. et al. Defining embryonic stem cell identity using differentiation-related microRNAs and their potential targets. Mamm Genome 18, 316–327 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-007-9032-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-007-9032-6

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