Gene Expression Patterns in Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Human Pluripotent Germ Cell Tumors

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 100; no. 23; pp. 13350 - 13355
• Main Authors: Sperger, Jamie M., Chen, Xin, Draper, Jonathan S., Antosiewicz, Jessica E., Chon, Chris H., Jones, Sunita B., Brooks, James D., Andrews, Peter W., Brown, Patrick O., Thomson, James A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 11.11.2003; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Biology; Carcinoma, Embryonal - genetics; Carcinoma, Embryonal - metabolism; Cell Differentiation; Cell lines; Cells; Chromosome Mapping; Cluster Analysis; Comparative analysis; DNA, Complementary - metabolism; Down-Regulation; Embryo, Mammalian - cytology; Embryonal Carcinoma Stem Cells; Embryonic stem cells; Embryos; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Genes; Germ cells; Humans; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal - genetics; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal - metabolism; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Phenotype; Pluripotent stem cells; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Seminoma; Seminoma - genetics; Somatic cells; Stem cells; Stem Cells - metabolism; Tumor cell line; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2235735100

Remarkably little is known about the transcriptional profiles of human embryonic stem (ES) cells or the molecular mechanisms that underlie their pluripotency. To identify commonalties among the transcriptional profiles of different human pluripotent cells and to search for clues into the genesis of human germ cell tumors, we compared the expression profiles of human ES cell lines, human germ cell tumor cell lines and tumor samples, somatic cell lines, and testicular tissue samples by using cDNA microarray analysis. Hierarchical cluster analysis of gene expression profiles showed that the five independent human ES cell lines clustered tightly together, reflecting highly similar expression profiles. The gene expression patterns of human ES cell lines showed many similarities with the human embryonal carcinoma cell samples and more distantly with the seminoma samples. We identified 895 genes that were expressed at significantly greater levels in human ES and embryonal carcinoma cell lines than in control samples. These genes are candidates for involvement in the maintenance of a pluripotent, undifferentiated phenotype.