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Can controversies be put to REST?

Abstract

Arising from: S. K. Singh et al. Nature 453, 223–227 (2008)10.1038/nature06863; Singh et al. reply

The contribution of REST to embryonic stem (ES) cell pluripotency has been uncertain. Two years ago, Singh et al.1 claimed that Rest+/− and REST knock-down ES cells expressed reduced levels of pluripotency markers1, in contrast to a prior2 and subsequent reports3,4,5,6. To understand the basis of this difference, we analysed the YHC334 (YHC) and RRC160 (RRC) gene-trap ES cell lines used by Singh et al.1, obtained directly from BayGenomics. Both REST mutant lines generated REST–βGeo fusion proteins, but expressed pluripotency genes at levels similar to appropriately matched parental wild ES cells, consistent with expression being REST–independent.

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Figure 1: Gene-trap ES cell lines YHC and RRC contain a disrupted Rest allele and express REST–βGeo fusion proteins.
Figure 2: Rest -gene trap and parental wild-type ES cells from BayGenomics express similar levels of pluripotency-associated markers, but differ from another wild-type ES cell line.

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References

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H.F.J. performed the experiments. H.F.J. and A.G.F. conceived the analysis and wrote the manuscript.

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declared none.

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Jørgensen, H., Fisher, A. Can controversies be put to REST?. Nature 467, E3–E4 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09305

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