Name: analysis of retinoic acid-induced neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells in two and three-dimensional embryoid bodies
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Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analysis of Retinoic Acid-induced Neural Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Two and Three-dimensional Embryoid Bodies at JoVE.com

This study was supported by NIH grant R01 HL119984 to A.H.

1. Culture of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts (MEFs)
<ol>
	<li>Prepare MEF medium, Dulbecco&#39;s modified Eagle&#39;s medium (DMEM, high-glucose), supplemented with 15% fetal bovine serum (FBS).</li>
	<li>Coat 100 mm cell culture dishes with 0.5% gelatin solution for 30 min at room temperature (RT).</li>
	<li>Count MEFs using a cytometer. Remove the gelatin solution and immediately pour MEF medium pre-warmed to 37 &#176;C. Rapidly thaw vials of mitomycin C-treated MEFs in a 37 &#176;C water bath for 2 min, then seed 2.8 x...

<ol>
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E., Levinthal, D. J., Noy, N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Distinct+roles+for+cellular+retinoic+acid-binding+proteins+I+and+II+in+regulating+signaling+by+retinoic+acid.">Distinct roles for cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins I and II in regulating signaling by retinoic acid.</a> J Biol Chem. 274 (34), 23695-23698 (1999).</li><li>Sessler, R. J., Noy, N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+ligand-activated+nuclear+localization+signal+in+cellular+retinoic+acid+binding+protein-II.">A ligand-activated nuclear localization signal in cellular retinoic acid binding protein-II.</a> Mol Cell. 18 (3), 343-353 (2005).</li><li>Tang, S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=SIRT1-Mediated+Deacetylation+of+CRABPII+Regulates+Cellular+Retinoic+Acid+Signaling+and+Modulates+Embryonic+Stem+Cell+Differentiation.">SIRT1-Mediated Deacetylation of CRABPII Regulates Cellular Retinoic Acid Signaling and Modulates Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation.</a> Mol Cell. 55 (6), 843-855 (2014).</li><li>Yang, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=RhoA+inhibits+neural+differentiation+in+murine+stem+cells+through+multiple+mechanisms.">RhoA inhibits neural differentiation in murine stem cells through multiple mechanisms.</a> Sci Signal. 9 (438), ra76 (2016).</li><li>Garnaas, M. K., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Syx,+a+RhoA+guanine+exchange+factor,+is+essential+for+angiogenesis+in+Vivo.">Syx, a RhoA guanine exchange factor, is essential for angiogenesis in Vivo.</a> Circ Res. 103 (7), 710-716 (2008).</li><li>Chou, Y. H., Khuon, S., Herrmann, H., Goldman, R. 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In this protocol we present a relatively simple and accessible method to study neural differentiation of murine ESCs. In previous protocols, RA was added to the medium at day 2 or day 4 of the EB hanging-drop8 or by suspension culture7, respectively, or immediately after the EB hanging drop aggregation21. In the protocol we devised, RA was added earlier. Despite the earlier introduction of RA to EBs formed by suspension culture, this protocol produce...

ESCs originate from the blastocyst inner cell mass. These cells are pluripotent, i.e. they have the capacity to differentiate into any cell type of the organism of origin. ESC in vitro differentiation is of wide interest as an experimental system for investigating developmental pathways and mechanisms. It offers a potent and flexible model system to test new therapeutic approaches for correction of cell and tissue dysfunction. EBs recapitulate many aspects of cell differentiation during early embryogenesis. In particular, EBs can be used when embryonic lethality makes it difficult to determine the cellular basis of the embryonic defects1,2. EBs can be formed either by the hanging drop or liquid suspension techniques3. The advantage of the former is the ability to generate EBs of consistent size and density, thus facilitating experimental reproducibility.
Interaction with extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion proteins may affect the motility and survival of adherent cells. In the 2D culture system, fibronectin is often applied to increase cell adhesion to the substrate. Fibronectin is a basal lamina component recognized by 10 types of cell-surface integrin heterodimers4.
RA is a small lipophilic metabolite of vitamin A that induces neural differentiation5,6. High concentrations of RA promote neural gene expression and represses mesodermal gene expression during EB formation7,8. RA is produced by vitamin A oxidation to retinaldehyde by either alcohol or retinol dehydrogenase, followed by retinaldehyde oxidation to the final product by retinaldehyde dehydrogenase9. Neural differentiation requires transport of RA from the cytoplasm to the nucleus by cellular RA-binding protein 2 (CRABP2). In the nucleus, RA binds to its cognate receptor complex consisting of a RAR-RXR heterodimer10. This results in recruitment of transcriptional co-activators, and the initiation of transcription9,11. Furthermore, RA promotes the degradation of phosphorylated (active) SMAD1, thus antagonizing BMP and SMAD signaling12. In addition to these activities, RA increases Pax6 expression, a transcription factor that supports neural differentiation13. RA signaling is modulated by sirtuin-1 (Sirt1), a nuclear nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent enzyme that deacetylates CRABP2, interfering with its translocation to the nucleus, and hence with RA binding to the RAR-RXR heterodimer14,15,16.
Our goal in designing the RA-treated EB protocol described here is to optimize neural differentiation in order to facilitate in vitro analysis of the signaling pathways that regulate ESC differentiation into neuronal precursor cells. One of the advantages of this protocol is facilitation of the analysis of cell function by immunofluorescence. 3D EBs are not well penetrated by antibodies and are difficult to image. EB dissociation into a 2D monolayer at specific time points during neural differentiation facilitates immunolabeling and imaging of the cells by confocal microscopy.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4">Materials</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MEFs</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>PMEF-CF</td>
			<td>ESC feeder layer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ESC</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>CMTI-2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell culture dish (60 mm)</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>30701119</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell culture dish (100 mm)</td>
			<td>Falcon</td>
			<td>353003</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dish (100 mm)</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>351029</td>
			<td>Hanging drops</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>24-well plate</td>
			<td>Greiner Bio-One</td>
			<td>662160</td>
			<td>2D EBs</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>6-well plate</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>30720113</td>
			<td>Transfection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dark 1.5 ml centrifuge tube</td>
			<td>Celltreat Scientific Products</td>
			<td>229437</td>
			<td>RA stock solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microscope cover-glass</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>12-545-80</td>
			<td>Circular, 12 mm diameter</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Superfrost-plus microscope slides</td>
			<td>Fisherbrand</td>
			<td>12-550-15</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3D collagen culture kit</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>ECM675</td>
			<td>3D culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Effectene Transfection Reagent</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>301427</td>
			<td>Stem cell transfection</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microcon&#160;Centrifugal Filters (10 kDa)</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>MRCPRT010</td>
			<td>Protein concentration</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name&#160;</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4">Reagents</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMEM</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>12-709F</td>
			<td>MEFs culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>IMDM</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>12440-046</td>
			<td>ESCs culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fetal bovine serum (FBS)</td>
			<td>EMD Millipore</td>
			<td>ES-009-B</td>
			<td>ESCs culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gelatin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G2625</td>
			<td>Dish coating</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LIF</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems</td>
			<td>8878-LF-025</td>
			<td>To maintain ESC pluripotency</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids Solutions</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>11140050</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2-Mercaptoethanol</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>21985023</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin-Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15140122</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Gentamicin</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>15750060</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MycoZap Plus-PR</td>
			<td>Lonza</td>
			<td>VZA-2022</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>0.25% Trypsin-EDTA</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>25200-072</td>
			<td>Cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DMSO</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D2650</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>All-trans-retinoic acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>R2625-50MG</td>
			<td>Induction of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A7030-50G</td>
			<td>Blocking and antibody dilution&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton X-100</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T8787-100ML</td>
			<td>Cell membrane permeabilization</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cell strainer</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td>352360</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Prolong Gold anti-fade reagent with DAPI</td>
			<td>Life Tech.</td>
			<td>P36931</td>
			<td>Mounting reagent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>16% Paraformaldehyde&#160;</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td>
			<td>15710</td>
			<td>Cell fixation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fibronectin</td>
			<td>R&#38;D Systems</td>
			<td>1030-FN</td>
			<td>Dish coating</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PBS</td>
			<td>Gibco</td>
			<td>10010049</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Collagenase type I</td>
			<td>Worthington Biochem. Corp</td>
			<td>LS004196</td>
			<td>EB dissociation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name&#160;</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4">Primary Antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nestin (Rat-401)</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotech</td>
			<td>sc-33677</td>
			<td>Detection of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Oct4</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotech</td>
			<td>sc-5279</td>
			<td>Detection of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Nanog</td>
			<td>Bethyl Laboratories</td>
			<td>A300-398A</td>
			<td>Detection of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sox2</td>
			<td>Cell Signaling</td>
			<td>3579</td>
			<td>Detection of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tubulin b3 (AA10)</td>
			<td>Santa Cruz Biotech</td>
			<td>sc-80016</td>
			<td>Detection of neural differentiation</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name&#160;</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4">Secondary Antibodies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Donkey anti-Mouse-Alexa555</td>
			<td>Life Tech.</td>
			<td>A31570</td>
			<td>Immunofluorescence</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Donkey anti-mouse-Alexa488&#160;</td>
			<td>Life Tech.</td>
			<td>A21202</td>
			<td>Immunofluorescence</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Name&#160;</td>
			<td>Company</td>
			<td>Catalog Number</td>
			<td>Comments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="4">Instruments</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Wide-field microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td>Eclipse TS100</td>
			<td>Cell culture imaging</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Confocal microscope</td>
			<td>Nikon</td>
			<td>C2</td>
			<td>Immunofluorescence imaging</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

analysis of retinoic acid-induced neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells in two and three-dimensional embryoid bodies

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) isolated from the inner mass of the blastocyst (typically at day E3.5), can be used as in vitro model system for studying early embryonic development. In the absence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), ESCs differentiate by default into neural precursor cells. They can be amassed into a three dimensional (3D) spherical aggregate termed embryoid body (EB) due to its similarity to the early stage embryo. EBs can be seeded on fibronectin-coated coverslips, where they expand by growing two dimensional (2D) extensions, or implanted in 3D collagen matrices where they continue growing as spheroids, and differentiate into the three germ layers: endodermal, mesodermal, and ectodermal. The 3D collagen culture mimics the in vivo environment more closely than the 2D EBs. The 2D EB culture facilitates analysis by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting to track differentiation. We have developed a two-step neural differentiation protocol. In the first step, EBs are generated by the hanging-drop technique, and, simultaneously, are induced to differentiate by exposure to retinoic acid (RA). In the second step, neural differentiation proceeds in a 2D or 3D format in the absence of RA.

Oct4, Nanog, and SOX2 are the core transcription factors that confer ESC self-renewal and pluripotency. We applied the above protocol to compare the neural differentiation of ESCs from wild type and from a strain of genetically-modified mice where Syx, a gene coding for the RhoA-specific exchange factor Syx, is disrupted. We had implicated Syx in angiogenesis18. We noticed differences in the behaviors of EBs aggregated from Syx+/+ and <...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Analysis of Retinoic Acid-induced Neural Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Two and Three-dimensional Embryoid Bodies at JoVE.com

Analysis of Retinoic Acid-induced Neural Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Two and Three-dimensional Embryoid Bodies

We describe a technique for using murine embryonic stem cells for generating two or three dimensional embryoid bodies. We then explain how to induce neural differentiation of the embryoid body cells by retinoic acid, and how to analyze their state of differentiation by progenitor cell marker immunofluorescence and immunoblotting.

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) isolated from the inner mass of the blastocyst (typically at day E3.5), can be used as in vitro model system for ...

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