Zinc Chloride Transiently Maintains Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency by Activating Stat3 Signaling

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148994
• Publication Date: 2016-02-24T22:53:34Z
• Authors: Jing Hu; Zhiyong Yang; Jinbo Wang; Jia Yu; Jing Guo; Shiying Liu; Chunmei Qian; Liwen Song; Yi Wu; Jiajing Cheng
• Keywords: Embryoid body; Cell fate determination; Rex1

An improved understanding of the pluripotency maintenance embryonic stem (ES) cells is important for investigations early embryo development and cell replacement therapy, but mechanism behind still incompletely understood. Recent findings show that zinc, an essential trace element in humans, critically involved regulating various signaling pathways genes expression. However, its role ES fate determination remains to be further explored. Here we showed 2μM zinc chloride (ZnCl2) transiently maintained mouse vitro. The cultured remained undifferentiated under ZnCl2 treatment leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) withdrawal, retinoic acid (RA) or embryoid bodies (EBs) differentiation assays. In addition, increased expression inhibited Further mechanistic studies revealed activated signal transducers activators transcription 3 (Stat3) through promoting Stat3 phosphorylation. Inhibition abrogated effects on pluripotency. Taken together, this study demonstrated a critical cells, as well regulator signaling.