HIGHLY SPECIFIC FLUORESCENT PROBE FOR MOUSE PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS

Abstract

A highly specific fluorescent probe was discovered for mESC via high throughput screening of compounds. The hit compound was named CDy9. High throughput screen found 23 hit compounds that are specific to mESC. The cell panel test identified CDy9 as the most specific compound. FACS sorting of CDy9 treated co culture of mESC and MEF proved the ability of CDy9 to isolate out mESC. Single cell PCR data, showed that CDy9 bright populations of cells were positive for pluripotent genes. It was also found that CDy9 binds to mESC stably and showed minimal toxicity to mESC. CDy9 was also applied to mouse abdominal fats and was shown to isolate potential pluripotent stem cells. Thus, CDy9 can selectively stain mESC and be used as a useful tool for stem cell research especially since it can be applied directly to stem cells without the need of any modification or genetic alteration to cells.