tiated state, we cultured E3.5 blastocystderived TS cells in CDM/ FAXY containing 12.5, 25, or 50 ng/ml FGF2. The concentration of FGF2 did not influence expression levels of TS cell marker genes, but FGF2 did suppress expression of differentiated trophoblast lineage markers for trophoblast giant cells, spongiotrophoblast cells, and labyrinthine PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19674025 trophoblasts in a dosedependent manner. We then analyzed and compared expression levels of FGF ligands in TS and ES cells. The FGF family consists of at least 23 members in vertebrates. Only FGF4 was MedChemExpress Vorapaxar expressed at high levels in ES cells. We also analyzed expression levels of FGF receptor genes in TS and ES cells. TS cells expressed 
Fgfr1 and Fgfr2, which is strongly expressed in diploid trophoblast, Lines derived TS Activin A FGF2 129 6 B6 XAV939 Y27632 Growth factors added to CDM Blastocyst 10, EpiSC-like;, partially differentiated TSCs; c, ESCs. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107308.t001 b Stage Number of embryos CD1 6 B6 CD1 6 CD1 LIF + PD0325901 + CHIR99021 a 0 Establishment of TS Cells under Defined Culture Conditions in Mice at high levels and Fgfr3 at low levels. ES cells expressed only Fgfr1 at high levels. Next, we used microarray analysis to compare global gene expression between the new and conventional TS cells. In total, 3066 genes were differentially expressed by at least 2-fold. Among those 3066 genes, 1935 were overexpressed in the new TS cells, and 1131 genes were underexpressed. Both the new and conventional TS cells exhibited similar expression levels of trophoblast stem cell marker genes . Relative to conventional cells, the new TS cells expressed lower levels of Hand1 and PL-1 and Esx1 . Requirement for FGF2, Activin A, and XAV939 In order to determine which factors are required to maintain the tight stem celllike colony morphology of the TS cells, we observed the morphological changes in TS cells resulting from removal of FGF2, activin A, or XAV939. For five passages prior to these experiments, the undifferentiated state of TS cells was maintained in CDM-FAXY. The removal of FGF2 or Activin A dramatically reduced the proliferation rate and induced differentiation, mainly into flat epithelial cells. The removal of XAV939 resulted in the consistent appearance of differentiated cells at the edges of colonies. Next, we characterized TS cells and their differentiated progeny by qPCR. In particular, we analyzed expression of markers for trophoblast stem cells, trophoblast giant cells, spongiotrophoblast cells, and labyrinthine trophoblasts. The removal of FGF2 or activin A resulted in rapid downregulation of expression of TS-cell marker genes, with the exception of Tcfap2c, and a rapid upregulation of all trophoblast cell lineage markers with the exception of Gcm1, a labyrinthine trophoblast marker. The absence of XAV939 barely influenced the expression levels of Cdx2 and Tcfap2c, but after 4 days, removal of this compound resulted in suppressed expression of Eomes, Sox2, Esrrb, and Elf5; upregulation of Mash2, Dlx3, and Gcm1; and downregulation of PL-1 and Tpbp/4311. 5 Establishment of TS Cells under Defined Culture Conditions in Mice Requirement for Y27632 To verify the requirement for Y27632, we removed only Y27632 from cultures and investigated PubMed ID:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19674470 the effects. At 24 hours after the removal of Y27632, in contrast to the removal of FGF2, activin A, or XAV939,,60% of cells were poly-caspasepositive apoptotic cells, and very few cells survived. In addition, we screened for extracellular