Abstract
Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1/CD31) is widely used as a marker during vasculogenesis and angiogenesis from embryonic stem (ES) cells. However, the expression of PECAM-1 isoforms in ES cells has not been determined. The present study was designed to determine the role of PECAM-1 isoforms during in vitro endothelial differentiation of ES cells. It was found that undifferentiated ES cells expressed high level of PECAM-1, which primarily located at cell-cell junction, but the expression of PECAM-1 was sharply down-regulated during early ES cell differentiation. In addition, undifferentiated ES cells were found the expressed all eight known alternatively spliced PECAM-1 isoforms, among them the expression of PECAM-1 isoforms lacking exon 15 or 14&15 was predominant. Quantitative analysis revealed a significant increase in the expression of PECAM-1 isoform lacking exon 12&14&15 as vascular development of ES cells. These results indicate a constitutive expression of PECAM-1 in undifferentiated murine ES cells and suggest a developmental role of PECAM-1 isoform changes during vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 559-570 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of cellular biochemistry |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2005 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Alternative splicing
- Angiogenesis
- Embryonic stem cells
- Endothelial differentiation
- PECAM-1/CD31
- Vasculogenesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology