Embryonic stem cells shift metabolism in a cancer-like way upon implanting in the uterus

Shortly after a mouse embryo starts to form, some of its stem cells undergo a dramatic metabolic shift to enter the next stage of development, Seattle researchers report today. These stem cells start using and producing energy like cancer cells.

Hanelle Ruohola-Baker lab

A microscopic image from the mouse embryonic stem cell metabolism study.

This discovery is published today in EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organization journal.

These findings not only have implications for stem cell research and the study of how embryos grow and take shape, but also for cancer therapy, said the senior author of the study, Dr. Hannele Ruohola-Baker, University of Washington professor of biochemistry. The study was collaborative among several research labs in Seattle.

The metabolic transition they discovered occurs very early as the mouse embryo, barely more than a speck of dividing cells, implants in the mothers uterus. The change is driven by low oxygen conditions, Ruohola-Baker explained.

The researchers also saw a specific type of biochemical slowdown in the stem cells mitochondria the cells powerhouses. The phenomenon previously was associated with aging and disease. This was the first example of the same downshift controlling normal early embryonic development.

This downshift coincides with the time when the germ line, the keeper of the genome for the next generation, is set aside, Ruohola-Baker said.. Hence reduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species may be natures way to protect the future.

Embryonic stem cells are called pluripotent because they have the ability to renew themselves and have the potential to become any cell in the body. Self-sustaining and versatile are qualities necessary for the growth, repair and maintenance of the body and for regenerative medicine therapies.

Although they share these sought-after qualities, Pluripotent stem cells come in several flavors, Ruohola-Baker explained. They differ in subtle ways that expand or shrink their capacities as the raw living material from which animals are shaped.

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Embryonic stem cells shift metabolism in a cancer-like way upon implanting in the uterus