Activin A Modulates CRIPTO-1/HNF4α⁺ Cells to Guide Cardiac Differentiation from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Figure 4

ActA promoted CM differentiation by inducing HNF4α⁺ endoderm-like cell population. High doses of 50 and 100 ng/mL ActA during the early phases of cardiac differentiation increased the amount of HNF4α⁺ endoderm-like cells, which subsequently promoted the CM differentiation efficiency. (a) IF analyses for HNF4α (green), cMyHC (red), and Hoechst (blue) in 7-day-old EBs for control and 50 and 100 ng/mL ActA treated conditions. Dashed squares indicate the region of interest, corresponding to IF pictures at higher magnification. (b) Quantifications of cMyHC⁺, HNF4α⁺ and cMyHC⁻ HNF4α⁻ cell populations in the presence (50 and 100 ng/mL) or absence of ActA are reported as percentages of control conditions. Data are representative of three independent experiments and expressed as mean SEM. Significant differences are versus control and indicated as : ; : ; and : ∗∗∗. Scale bar = 100 μm.

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