Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are an established model for investigating developmental processes, disease conditions, tissue regeneration and therapeutic targets. Previous studies have shown that tripartite motif-containing 33 protein (Trim33) functions as a chromatin reader during Nodal-induced mesoderm induction. Here we report that despite reduced proliferation, mouse ESCs deficient in Trim33 remained pluripotent when cultured under non-differentiating conditions. However, when induced to differentiate to embryoid bodies (EBs), the mutant cultures showed increased cell shedding and apoptosis at day 3 of differentiation. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated that several molecular functions associated with cell survival, transcriptional/translational activity and growth factor signaling were affected already by the second day of differentiation in Trim33-deficient EBs. Consistent with increased apoptosis, expression of Rac1, a critical factor for EB cell survival, was reduced in Trim33 mutant EBs. In addition, a set of genes involved in regulation of pluripotency was upregulated in mutant EBs. Our results suggest that Trim33 regulates early maturation of mouse embryoid bodies in vitro.
Keywords: Apoptosis; Embryoid body maturation; Tripartite motif containing 33.