Activin has profound effects on the expression of TSC pluripotency and differentiation markers.
A and B, TSCs (A) or ESC-induced TSC-like cells (B) were harvested together with ESCs for assessment of the expression of Bcor or lineage-specific markers using qRT-PCR. shLuciferase, luciferase shRNA; shOct4, Oct4 shRNA. C, qRT-PCR (left panel) and conventional PCR (right panel) were performed to detect the Bcor mRNA level in both the embryonic part and the trophoblast part of the embryonic day 8.5 mouse embryo. D and E, 129R3 cells were cultured in TS medium (blue) or TS medium plus 10 ng/ml activin A (TS+Ac10 medium, red) and harvested every 24 h until day 6. The expression of trophoblast markers (C) and Bcor (D) was analyzed using qRT-PCR. Data are presented as mean ± S.E. (n = 3).