Expression profile of Sall4-null ES cells and Sall4 heterozygous ES cells

Sall4 is a mouse homolog of a causative gene of the autosomal dominant disorder known as Okihiro syndrome. We previously showed that Sall4 absence leads to lethality during peri-implantation and that Sall4-null embryonic stem (ES) cells proliferate poorly with intact pluripotency when cultured on feeder cells. However, a subsequent report indicated that shRNA-mediated Sall4 inhibition in ES cells led to a severe reduction in Oct3/4 and a secondary increase in Cdx2, which resulted in complete differentiation into the trophectoderm when cultured in the feeder-free condition. So we profiled gene expression changes when Sall4 is deleted in ES cells in the presence or absence of feeder cells.

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