Effects of oxygen on embryonic stem proliferation, energetics, and differentiation into cardiomyocytes

Most embryonic stem (ES) cell research has been performed using a gas-phase oxygen partial pressure (pO2gas) of 142 mmHg, whereas embryonic cells in early development are exposed to cellular pO2 (pO2cell) values of about 0-30 mmHg. Murine ES (mES) cells were used as a model system to study the effects of oxygen on ES cell proliferation, phenotype maintenance, cellular energetics, and differentiation into cardiomyocytes. It was found that undifferentiated mES cells are capable of surviving and proliferating at pO2 conditions in the range of 0-285 mmHg, with only moderately decreased growth at the extremes in pO2 over this range. Oxygen levels had no effect on the maintenance of the undifferentiated phenotype during culture with the differentiation-suppressing cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in the culture medium, and low oxygen had, at most, a small differentiating-promoting effect during culture without LIF. Aerobic metabolism was used to generate approximately 60% of the energy required by undifferentiated mES cells at high pO2, but substantially smaller fractions when cells were oxygen starved. This shift from aerobic to anaerobic respiration occurred within 48 hr with minimal cell death.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Powers, Daryl E

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Clark K. Colton.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/38963
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/38963

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38963