Figure 4
Treatment of a sialyltransferase inhibitor suppresses cellular reprogramming and establishment of induced pluripotency in human somatic cells.
(a) AP staining showed that fewer hiPSC colonies with AP activity were obtained from cellular reprogramming under the treatment of 3Fax-peracetyl Neu5Ac. (b) The numbers of AP-positive colonies with a size equal or larger than 1.0 mm in diameter were counted at the end of reprogramming experiments, which showed a dose-dependent reduction of hiPSC formation due to the treatment of 3Fax-peracetyl Neu5Ac (n = 3; *P < 0.05, t-test). (c) The percentages of cells with enhanced SNA reactivity in reprogrammed HDF51 cells were significantly reduced by the treatment of 3Fax-peracetyl Neu5Ac for 6 days in a dose-dependent manner (n = 3; *P < 0.05, t-test), indicating decreased sialylation on the cell surface. (d) The cell counts of reprogrammed HDF51 cells at different time points over 6 days were marginally but significantly reduced by the treatment of 3Fax-peracetyl Neu5Ac in a dose-dependent manner (n = 3; *P < 0.05, t-test), indicating a slight suppression of cell proliferation. (e) The number of apoptotic cells in reprogrammed HDF51 cells was slightly increased by the treatment of 500 μM 3Fax-peracetyl Neu5Ac for 6 days.
