We studied the effect of recombinant human activin A on induced neuroectoderm formation in colonies of human parthenogenetic SC in the absence of feeder cells. It was found that pretreatment of human parthenogenetic SC with activin A suppressed subsequent neural induction. Activin A in a concentration of 10 ng/ml significantly decreased transcriptional activity of genes required for neuroectoderm formation. At the same time, activin A in a concentration of 20 ng/ml increased the expression of pluripotency genes and completely inhibited the formation of structures in vitro reproducing the neural tube of the developing embryo. These findings attest to prolonged effect of activin A as an inhibitor of neuroectodermal differentiation.
Semechkin R.A., Abramihina T.V., Isaev D.A. Activin A Suppresses Induced Formation of Neuroectoderm in Colonies of Parthenogenetic Stem Cells In Vitro. Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine. Volume 151, Number 4, 502-505, DOI: 10.1007/s10517-011-1367-z Translated from Kletochnye Tekhnologii v Biologii i Meditsine, No. 2, pp. 67–70, April, 2011