Figure 4.

Characterization of the Reprogrammed Cells

(A and B) Reprogrammed cells exhibit a typical stem cell morphology with a small round compacted shape similar to the cESC, grow in colonies in sharp contrast with the CEFs (A). Scale bars, 50 μm. (B) Ultrastructural analysis of reprogrammed cells by electron microscopy showed that their morphology is no longer the morphology of CEF. Their cytoplasms and nuclei are typically round, like that of cESC. The ER is not dilated as in CEF, and some annulate lamellae could be seen in their cytoplasm, a stem cell specificity (Underwood et al., 2017). Scale bars, 1 μm and 0.2 μm (lower panel).

(C) Reprogrammed cells are able to form embryoid bodies (EBs) Scale bar, 50 μm.

(D) The EBs express various markers of differentiation as detected by qRT-PCR, 4 and 10 days of induction. Results are of a representative experiment.