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. 2020 Mar 13;11:1357. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15173-4

Fig. 6. Reciprocal expression of EPH receptors and ligands in pluripotent and lineage- specified cells of early mouse and human embryos.

Fig. 6

Expression (RPKM) of EPH (a, b) or EFN (c, d) mRNA in the inner cell mass (ICM) or trophectoderm (TE) of 64-cell mouse embryos (a, c) or 5-day human embryos (b, d). a, c n = 33 biologically independent cells for ICM, and n = 28 biologically independent cells for TE. b, d n = 73 biologically independent cells for ICM, and n = 142 biologically independent cells for TE. Box-and-whisker plots show median, first and third quartiles, and maximum and minimum values. e EPHA2 regulation and function in mESCs. In the pluripotent state, OCT4 and other pluripotency factors promote EPHA2 receptor expression, enabling activation by EFNA ligands to support pluripotency by restraining ERK1/2. During differentiation, FGF4 drives ERK1/2–RSK activity to phosphorylate and inhibit EPHA2, whilst ERK1/2 suppresses an OCT4–EPHA2 transcriptional module to disable EPHA2 receptor expression. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.