Visualization of the Epiblast and Visceral Endodermal Cells Using Fgf5-P2A-Venus BAC Transgenic Mice and Epiblast Stem Cells

PLoS One. 2016 Jul 13;11(7):e0159246. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159246. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Fibroblast growth factor 5 (Fgf5) has been widely used as a marker for the epiblast in the postimplantation embryo and epiblast stem cells (mEpiSCs) in the mouse, making it valuable for study of differentiation of various tissues and epiblast cells in vivo and in vitro. Here, we report for the first time the generation of Fgf5-P2A-Venus BAC transgenic (Tg) mice and show that the BAC Tg can recapitulate endogenous Fgf5 expression in epiblast and visceral endodermal cells of E6.5 and 7.5 embryos. We also show that Fgf5-P2A-Venus BAC Tg mEpiSCs in the undifferentiated state expressed abundant Venus, and upon reprogramming into naïve state, Venus was suppressed. Furthermore, while most Tg mEpiSCs expressed Venus abundantly, surprisingly the Tg mEpiSCs contained a minor subpopulation of Venus-negative cells that were capable of conversion to Venus-positive cells, indicating that even Fgf5 expression shows dynamic heterogeneity in mEpiSCs. Taken together, Fgf5-P2A-Venus BAC Tg mice and mEpiSCs generated in this study will be useful for developmental biology as well as stem cell biology research.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cellular Reprogramming / genetics*
  • Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Endoderm / cytology*
  • Fibroblast Growth Factor 5 / genetics*
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Fgf5 protein, mouse
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria
  • Fibroblast Growth Factor 5

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by a grant from PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (to M.E.) and a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (to T.A.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.