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Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Hepatocyte-like Cells for Drug Discovery
Published on: May 19, 2018
Noncoding RNA Transcripts during Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Hepatocytes
Aniela Skrzypczyk1, Stephanie Kehr2, Ilona Krystel1
1Applied Stem Cell Biology and Cell Technology, Biomedical and Biotechnological Center, Leipzig University, Deutscher Platz 5, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
Recent advances in the stem cell field allow to obtain many human tissues in vitro. However, hepatic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) still remains challenging. Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) obtained after differentiation resemble more fetal liver hepatocytes. MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an important role in the differentiation process. Here, we analysed noncoding RNA profiles from the last stages of differentiation and compare them to hepatocytes. Our results show that HLCs maintain an epithelial character and express miRNA which can block hepatocyte maturation by inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Additionally, we identified differentially expressed small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and discovered novel noncoding RNA (ncRNA) genes.
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Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
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