β‐Catenin signaling contributes to stemness and regulates early differentiation in murine embryonic stem cells

ES cells can self‐renew while preserving pluripotency and are able to differentiate into many cell types. In both processes, different signal transduction pathways are implicated, including the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway, which we here further analyzed. We found that a loss of β‐catenin in ES cells leads to altered expression of stem cell marker genes. TCF/β‐catenin reporter gene assays indicate that undifferentiated murine ES cells are capable of reacting to LiCl and Wnt3a but not Wnt5a stimulation, but have low endogenous TCF/β‐catenin activity. Oct‐3/4, nanog and Wnt11 were able to repress TCF/β‐catenin transcriptional activity. During differentiation, activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway influences formation of mesoderm and cardiomyocytes in a time and dose dependent manner.

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