HOXB6 Initiates Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Mesoderm
CHEN Xiaoyuan, WEN Yuqi, XIA Meijuan, WANG Hongtao, WANG Mengge, ZHOU Jiaxi*
Although HOXB6 plays an important role in embryonic development, its function in the mesoderm differentiation of hESCs (human embryonic stem cells) remains unclear. In this study, by taking advantage of hESC mesoderm differentiation model and RNA-seq analysis, HOXB6 was found to be significantly up-regulated during the mesoderm differentiation of hESCs. In addition, HOXB6 depletion inhibited the mesoderm differentiation of hESCs, implying that HOXB6 was implicated in mesoderm differentiation. Through establishing a DOX (doxcycline) induc-ible HOXB6-overexpressed hESC lines, this study found that the enforced expression of HOXB6 leaded to a signifi-cant downregulation of pluripotency markers, while dramatically increased the expression of mesoderm markers. This study reveals that HOXB6 over-expression suffices to induce mesoderm differentiation in hESCs, providing a theoreti-cal basis for understanding human early development and establishing an efficient differentiation system of hESCs.
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