A distinct metabolic state arises during the emergence of 2-cell-like cells (2019)
Figure 1

Figure 1. Early-embryonic-like cells exhibit decreased mitochondrial respiration.

A) Heat map showing changes in RNA expression levels for various enzymes and regulators of central carbon metabolism in endogenous, CAF1-knockdown-induced (through p60 or p150 KD) 2-cell-like cells. Fold-changes relative to ESCs were calculated based on bulk RNA-seq data [15].

B) Schematic representation of 2-cell-like cell emergence from ES cells, which transit through the intermediate Zscan4+ state before becoming 2-cell-like cells. Reporter constructs used to identify the three cell populations are shown.

C) Oxygen consumption rate of ES (blue line) and 2-cell-like cells (green line). Assay medium was formulated to recapitulate standard ES cell culture conditions and contained glucose, L-glutamine and pyruvate. Basal, maximal (FCCP-induced) and non-mitochondrial (Rotenone and Antimycin-A mediated) respiratory rates are indicated. A representative graph of 3 independent biological replicates performed on the Seahorse extracellular flux analyser is shown. Due to the low number of 2-cell-like cells available, compared to ESCs, one technical replicate of the former was analysed per biological replicate, while three or more technical replicates were performed for the latter. Accordingly, mean ± S.D. of technical replicates is shown for ESCs.

D) Basal oxygen consumption rate of ES (blue), Zscan4+ (red) and 2-cell-like cells (green) across 3 independent biological replicates performed on the Seahorse extracellular flux analyser. Assay medium was formulated to recapitulate standard ES cell culture conditions and contained glucose, L-glutamine and pyruvate. Boxes indicate the range between the first and third quantile, the band specifies the median and the whiskers extend no further than 1.5-times the interquartile range. Individual dots indicate the measurements obtained in each of the individual technical replicates.

E) Oxygen consumption rate of ES (blue line), Zscan4+ (red line) and 2-cell-like cells (green line) in glucose-free media and upon acute injection of sodium pyruvate or sodium L-lactate. Note that L-glutamine - but not glucose or pyruvate - was initially present in the assay medium. Maximal (FCCP-induced) and non-mitochondrial (Rotenone and Antimycin-A mediated) respiratory rates following pyruvate or lactate treatment are also are indicated. A graph including data from 3 independent biological replicates is presented, and the mean ± S.D. of technical replicates is shown.

F) Representative electron microscopy micrographs of mitochondria from ES (n=49 sections) and 2-cell-like cells (n=57 sections) generated across 2 independent technical and biological replicates. Scale bar, 1 μm. Representative images from 2 independent biological and technical replicates are shown. 162 and 99 mitochondria were analysed for 2-cell-like and ES cells, respectively.

G) Representative single section of CellROX-DeepRed fluorescence in ES and 2-cell-like cells (green arrow) obtained using live cell microscopy. Scale bar, 10 μm. n, indicates the number of independent replicates. Representative images from 3 independent biological replicates are shown.

H) FACS-assisted quantification of CellROX-DeepRed fluorescence intensity in ES and 2-cell-like cells. Measurements were obtained from 2 independent biological replicates. *** P < 0.005; Mann-Whitney U test.