Cultured pluripotent stem cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine. Considerable efforts have been invested into the refinement and definition of improved culture systems that sustain self-renewal and avoid differentiation of pluripotent cells in vitro. Recent studies have, however, found that the choice of culture condition has a significant impact on epigenetic profiles of cultured pluripotent cells. Mouse and human ESCs (embryonic stem cells) show substantial epigenetic differences that are dependent on the culture condition, including global changes to DNA methylation and histone modifications and, in female human ESCs, to the epigenetic process of X chromosome inactivation. Epigenetic perturbations have also been detected during culture of pre-implantation embryos; limited research undertaken in mouse suggests a direct effect of the in vitro environment on epigenetic processes in this system. Widespread epigenetic changes induced by the culture condition in stem cells thus emphasize the necessity for extensive research into both immediate and long-term epigenetic effects of embryo culture during assisted reproductive technologies.
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June 2013
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Conference Article|
May 23 2013
The impact of culture on epigenetic properties of pluripotent stem cells and pre-implantation embryos
Kirsten R. McEwen;
Kirsten R. McEwen
*Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K.
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Harry G. Leitch;
Harry G. Leitch
†Wellcome Trust/Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, U.K.
‡Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QN, U.K.
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Rachel Amouroux;
Rachel Amouroux
*Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K.
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Petra Hajkova
Petra Hajkova
1
*Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailpetra.hajkova@csc.mrc.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
April 10 2013
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2013 Biochemical Society
2013
Biochem Soc Trans (2013) 41 (3): 711–719.
Article history
Received:
April 10 2013
Citation
Kirsten R. McEwen, Harry G. Leitch, Rachel Amouroux, Petra Hajkova; The impact of culture on epigenetic properties of pluripotent stem cells and pre-implantation embryos. Biochem Soc Trans 1 June 2013; 41 (3): 711–719. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20130049
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