Cell position within human pluripotent stem cell colonies determines apical specialization via an actin cytoskeleton-based mechanism

Youngju Kim, Hwanseok Jang, Kyubin Seo, June Hoan Kim, Boram Lee, Hyo Min Cho, Hyun Jung Kim, Esther Yang, Hyun Kim, Jeong An Gim, Yongdoo Park, Jae Ryun Ryu, Woong Sun

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) grow as colonies with epithelial-like features including cell polarity and position-dependent features that contribute to symmetry breaking during development. Our study provides evidence that hPSC colonies exhibit position-dependent differences in apical structures and functions. With this apical difference, edge cells were preferentially labeled with amphipathic dyes, which enabled separation of edge and center cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Transcriptome comparison between center and edge cells showed differential expression of genes related to apicobasal polarization, cell migration, and endocytosis. Accordingly, different kinematics and mechanical dynamics were found between center and edge cells, and perturbed actin dynamics disrupted the position-dependent apical polarity. In addition, our dye-labeling approach could be utilized to sort out a certain cell population in differentiated micropatterned colonies. In summary, hPSC colonies have position-dependent differences in apical structures and properties, and actin dynamics appear to play an important role in the establishment of this position-dependent cell polarity.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)68-81
    Number of pages14
    JournalStem Cell Reports
    Volume17
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2022 Jan 11

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2021 The Author(s)

    Keywords

    • actin dynamics
    • apical specialization
    • cell polarity
    • human pluripotent stem cells
    • stem cell colony
    • topology
    • transcriptome analysis

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • Genetics
    • Developmental Biology
    • Cell Biology

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