Law, Sau Kwan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-117). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Thesis Committee --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Contents --- p.iii / Abstract --- p.vii / 論文摘要 --- p.x / Abbreviations --- p.xi / List of Figures --- p.xiii / List of Tables --- p.xxiii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Characteristics of ES Cells l / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Therapeutic Potential of ES Cells --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Myocardial Infarction and ES cells-derived Cardiomyocytes --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Current Hurdles of Using ES cells-derived Cardiomyocytes for Research and Therapeutic Purposes --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- Transcription Factors for Cardiac Development / Chapter 1.2.1 --- GATA-binding Protein 4 (GATA-4) --- p.8 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2C (MEF2C) --- p.10 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- "NK2 Transcription Factor Related, Locus 5 (Nkx2.5)" --- p.11 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Heart and Neural Crest Derivatives Expressed 1 /2 (HANDI/2) --- p.11 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- T-box Protein 5 (Tbx5) --- p.13 / Chapter 1.2.6 --- Serum Response Factor (SRF) --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2.7 --- Specificity Protein 1 (Spl) --- p.15 / Chapter 1.2.8 --- Activator Protein 1 (AP-1) --- p.16 / Chapter 1.3 --- Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Cellular Production of ROS --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Maintenance of Redox balance --- p.18 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Redox Signaling --- p.19 / Chapter 1.4 --- Nitric Oxide (NO) and NO Signaling --- p.20 / Chapter 1.5 --- Aims of the Study --- p.22 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- MATERIALS AND METHODS / Chapter 2.1 --- Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast (MEF) Culture / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Derivation of MEF --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Maintenance of MEF Culture --- p.24 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Irradiation of MEF --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2 --- Mouse ES Cell Culture / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Maintenance of Undifferentiated Mouse ES Cell Culture --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Differentiation of Mouse ES Cells --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Exogenous addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and NO --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3 --- ROS Localization Study / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Frozen Sectioning --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Confocal microscopy for ROS detection --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4 --- Intracellular ROS Measurement / Chapter 2.4.1 --- "Chemistry of 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA)" --- p.29 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Flow Cytometry for ROS Measurement --- p.29 / Chapter 2.5 --- Gene Expression Study / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Primer Design --- p.30 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- RNA Extraction --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- DNase Treatment --- p.32 / Chapter 2.5.4 --- Reverse Transcription --- p.32 / Chapter 2.5.5 --- Quantitative Real Time PCR --- p.33 / Chapter 2.5.6 --- Quantification of mRNA Expression --- p.34 / Chapter 2.6 --- Protein Expression Study / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Total Protein Extraction --- p.34 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Nuclear and Cytosolic Protein Extraction --- p.35 / Chapter 2.6.3 --- Measurement of Protein Concentration --- p.36 / Chapter 2.6.4 --- De-sumoylation Assay --- p.36 / Chapter 2.6.5 --- De-phosphorylation Assay --- p.37 / Chapter 2.6.6 --- De-glycosylation Assay --- p.38 / Chapter 2.6.7 --- Western Blot --- p.39 / Chapter 2.7 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.41 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- RESULTS / Chapter 3.1 --- Study of Endogenous ROS / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Level and Distribution of Endogenous ROS --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Quantification of intracellular ROS --- p.48 / Chapter 3.2 --- Effect of Exogenous Addition of Nitric Oxide (NO) on Cardiac Differentiation / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Beating Profile of NO-treated Embryoid Bodies (EBs) --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3 --- Effect of Exogenous Addition of H2O2 on Cardiac Differentiation / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Beating Profile of H2O2-treated EBs --- p.51 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- mRNA Expression of Cardiac Structural Genes --- p.52 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Protein Expression of Cardiac Structural Genes --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- mRNA Expression of Cardiac Transcription Factors --- p.58 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Protein Expression of Cardiac Transcription Factors --- p.67 / Chapter 3.3.6 --- Post-translational Modifications of Cardiac Transcription Factors --- p.74 / Chapter 3.3.7 --- Translocation of Cardiac Transcription Factors --- p.89 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- DISCUSSION / Chapter 4.1 --- Changes in the Level of Endogenous ROS During Cardiac Differentiation of Mouse ES Cells --- p.96 / Chapter 4.2 --- H2O2 and NO Have Opposite Effects Towards Cardiac Differentiation --- p.97 / Chapter 4.3 --- Exogenous Addition of H2O2 Advances Differentiation of Mouse ES Cells into Cardiac Lineage --- p.99 / Chapter 4.4 --- Possible Role of H2O2 in Mediating Cardiac Differentiation of Mouse ES Cells --- p.103 / Chapter 4.5 --- Future Directions --- p.108 / Conclusions --- p.110 / References --- p.111

O envelhecimento é um processo gradual e intrínseco que ocorre devido a mudanças fisiológicas e fenotípicas com o avanço da idade e que acarreta na diminuição da capacidade de manter a homeostase e reparo tecidual. A perda do controle homeostático e o possível envolvimento de células-tronco e progenitores, provavelmente, é uma das causas das fisiopatologias do sistema hematopoético que acompanham o envelhecimento. O declínio na competência do sistema imune adaptativo, o aumento de doenças mielóides, leucemias e o desenvolvimento de anemias são algumas mudanças significantes e decorrentes do processo de envelhecimento. Durante a transição ontológica, a habilidade de células-tronco hematopoéticas originarem células progenitoras diminui progressivamente, sugerindo perda da capacidade de autorrenovação e diferenciação das células-tronco com o avanço da idade. O microambiente medular se divide em duas áreas distintas: nicho endosteal e nicho vascular, conhecidos por controlar a homeostase das células-tronco hematopoéticas; e é composto por uma mistura heterogênea de células, dentre elas as células-tronco mesenquimais que expressam moléculas que controlam algumas funções das células-tronco hematopoéticas. De acordo com estas observações, este trabalho investiga o papel do envelhecimento das células-tronco mesenquimais no processo de autorrenovação, multipotência e diferenciação das células-tronco hematopoéticas. Neste trabalho, avaliamos a percentagem de células-tronco hematopoéticas Lin-CD34+ e subpopulações em co-cultura com células-tronco mesenquimais derivadas de medula óssea de diferentes idades, bem como sua capacidade de autorrenovação, diferenciação, secreção da quimiocina CXCL-12 e a expressão do receptor CXCR-4. Nossos resultados mostraram diferenças significativas nos parâmetros fenotípicos e funcionais das células-tronco hematopoéticas co-cultivadas com células-tronco mesenquimais de doadores idosos. Estes dados sugerem que o envelhecimento das células-tronco mesenquimais podem influenciar na homeostase do microambiente medular / Certainly, aging is one of the best identified features of the human biology, and is also the least understood. This is largely attributed to the fact that aging is gradual and fundamentally complex, due to all modifications in the physiological and phenotypic aspects occurred during the age advancing. One of the most striking features of aging is the decreased ability to maintain homeostasis and tissue repair. Consistent with those findings, many of the pathophysiological conditions affecting aging, such as anemia, dysplasia, leukemia and anemia suggest an imbalance between cell losses and the ability to self-renew or differentiation. The decline in homeostatic maintenance and regenerative potential of tissues during aging has been associated with changes in stem cells. Increasing evidences point to the stem cells as major accountable for the aging pathophysiology in several tissues. Thus, studies in mammals comprise a careful evaluation of mechanisms connected to stem cells. The increasing age is accompanied by many pathophysiological changes in the hematopoietic system wherein the etiology suggests loss of homeostatic control and a possible involvement of stem and progenitor cells. The clinically relevant changes are related to adaptive immune system diminished competence, the increase of myeloid diseases including leukemia and the onset of anemia in the elderly. The hematopoietic stem cell microenvironment is located in the bone marrow and is divided in two domains: the endosteal niche near to the bone surface and vascular niche associated with the sinusoidal endothelium; the niche consist of several heterogeneous cells types, among them, the mesenchymal stem cells. The mesenchymal stem cells express molecules that control hematopoietic stem cells functions. Therefore, this study investigates the role of mesenchymal stem cells aging in the self-renewal, multipotency and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells. This study evaluated the percentage of hematopoietic stem cell Lin-CD34+ and subpopulations in co-culture with mesenchymal stem cell bone marrow-derived from donors with different ages, their ability of self-renewal, differentiation, secretion of chemokine CXCL-12 and expression of the CXCR-4 receptor. Our results suggest that the mesenchymal stem cells aging can affect the bone marrow niche homeostasis

Stem cell-based therapy represents a perspective approach for the treatment of many so far incurable diseases. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are currently the most studied stem cells. They are able to differentiate into different cell types, to produce growth and trophic factors and can suppress the functions of cells of the immune system. During the study of the immunomodulatory properties of MSC, we focused on their effect on B cells. The mechanism of impact of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) on MSC and their effect on the production of interleukin 10 (IL-10) by B cells was analysed. We have demonstrated that MSC-treated with IFN-γ inhibit production of IL-10 by activated B cells via the cyclooxygenase-2 involving pathway. Due to their regenerative and immunomodulatory properties, MSC can be for treatment of many diseases. In this study we focused on the disease and damage of the eye. The limbal stem cells (LSC) are used for the treatment of damaged ocular surface, however their isolation is difficult and they can not be used in all cases of damage. Appropriate candidates in these cases are MSC. Therefore we have decided to compare the therapeutic potential of LSC and MSC isolated from bone marrow or adipose tissue. The study have shown that MSC isolated from bone marrow have a similar regenerative effect on...

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis was to characterize cancer metabolism in vitro using epithelial ovarian cancer as a model on an untargeted, systems-level, basis with particular attention paid to the difference between cancer stem cell metabolism and cancer cell metabolism. Two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was used to measure the metabolite profiles of the ovarian cancer and cancer stem cell lines under normal baseline conditions and also under chemotherapeutic and environmental perturbations. These two cell lines exhibited significant metabolic differences under normal baseline conditions and results demonstrated that metabolism in the ovarian cancer stem cell line was distinct from that of more differentiated isogenic cancer cells, showing similarities to stem cell metabolism that suggest the potential importance of metabolism for the cancer stem cell phenotype. Glucose deprivation, hypoxia, and ischemia all perturbed ovarian cancer and cancer stem cell metabolism, but not in the same ways between the cell types. Chemotherapeutic treatment with docetaxel caused metabolic changes mostly in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism in ovarian cancer cells, while ovarian cancer stem cell metabolism was not affected by docetaxel. Overall, these metabolic differences between the two cell types will deepen our understanding of the metabolic changes occurring within the in vivo tumor and will help drive development of cancer stem cell targeted therapeutics.

Today, it is possible to restore hearing in congenitally deaf children and severely hearing-impaired adults through cochlear implants (CIs). A CI consists of an external sound processor that provides acoustically induced signals to an internal receiver. The receiver feeds information to an electrode array inserted into the fluid-filled cochlea, where it provides direct electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve. Despite its great success, there is still room for improvement, so as to provide the patient with better frequency resolution, pitch information for music and speech perception and overall improved quality of sound.  A better stimulation mode for the auditory nerves by increasing the number of stimulation points is believed to be a part of the solution. Current technology depends on strong electrical pulses to overcome the anatomical gap between neurons and the CI. The spreading of currents limits the number of stimulation points due to signal overlap and crosstalk. Closing the anatomical gap between spiral ganglion neurons and the CI could lower the stimulation thresholds, reduce current spread, and generate a more discrete stimulation of individual neurons. This strategy may depend on the regenerative capacity of auditory neurons, and the ability to attract and guide them to the electrode and bridge the gap. Here, we investigated the potential of cultured human and murine neurons from primary inner ear tissue and human neural progenitor cells to traverse this gap through an extracellular matrix gel. Furthermore, nanoparticles were used as reservoirs for neural attractants and applied to CI electrode surfaces. The nanoparticles retained growth factors, and inner ear neurons showed affinity for the reservoirs in vitro. The potential to obtain a more ordered neural growth on a patterned, electrically conducting nanocrystalline diamond surface was also examined. Successful growth of auditory neurons that attached and grew on the patterned substrate was observed. By combining the patterned diamond surfaces with nanoparticle-based reservoirs and nerve-stimulating gels, a novel, high resolution CI may be created. This strategy could potentially enable the use of hundreds of stimulation points compared to the 12 – 22 used today. This could greatly improve the hearing sensation for many CI recipients.

In contrast to mammals, adult zebrafish display cellular regeneration of lost motor neurons and achieve functional recovery following a complete spinal cord transection. Using adult zebrafish as a model to study how key developmental pathways can be re-activated to regulate neuroregeneration in cellular recovery, I addressed the following questions: 1) What is the role of Notch signalling during regenerative mechanisms in the lesioned spinal cord of the adult zebrafish? 2) What is the role of Notch overexpression in neurogenesis in the adult zebrafish retina? 3) Which additional signalling pathways are involved in the generation of motor neurons during spinal cord regeneration in adult zebrafish? 1) In the main part of my thesis I have investigated the role of Notch signalling during spinal cord regeneration. The Notch pathway has been shown to regulate neural progenitor maintenance and inhibit neuronal differentiation in the vertebrate nervous system. In the injured mammalian spinal cord, increased Notch signalling is held partly responsible for the low regenerative potential of endogenous progenitors to generate new neurons. However, this is difficult to test in an essentially non-regenerating system. We show that in adult zebrafish, which exhibit lesion-induced neurogenesis, e.g. of motor neurons from endogenous spinal progenitor cells, the Notch pathway is also reactivated. I over-activated the Notch pathway by forced expression of a heat-shock inducible active domain of notch in spinal progenitor cells. I observed that although apparently compatible with functional regeneration in zebrafish, forced activity of the pathway significantly decreased progenitor proliferation and motor neuron generation. Conversely, pharmacological inhibition of the pathway increased proliferation and motor neuron numbers. Thus in summary our work demonstrates that Notch is a negative signal for regenerative neurogenesis in the spinal cord. Importantly, we show for the first time that spinal motor neuron regeneration can be augmented in an adult vertebrate by inhibiting Notch signalling. 2) While in the lesioned spinal cord, over-activation of Notch attenuated neurogenesis, I observed that in the unlesioned retina the same manipulation led to strong proliferation of cells in the inner nuclear layer, presumable Müller glia cells which are the retinal progenitor cells. This coincided with an increase in eye size in adult zebrafish. These preliminary findings provide the first hint that the role of Notch may differ for different adult progenitor cell pools and will lead to future investigations of Notch induced neurogenesis in the retina. 3) We have evidence from previous studies that the dopamine and retinoic acid (RA) signalling pathways may be involved in the generation of motor neurons in the adult lesioned spinal cord. Using in situ hybridisation, I assessed the gene expression patterns a) for all D2-like receptors and b) candidate genes that relate to the RA pathway in the adult lesioned spinal cord to identify the signalling components. a) I found that only the D4a receptor was upregulated in spinal progenitor cells in the ventricular zone rostral to the lesion site, but not caudal to it. This correlates with other results showing that dopamine agonists increase motor neuron regeneration rostral, but not caudal to a spinal lesion site. b) I observed a strong increase in the expression of Cyp26a, a RA catabolising enzyme, in the ventricular progenitor zone caudal to the lesion site, in contrast to the weak expression rostrally. Crabp2a, a cellular retinoic acid binding protein, was also upregulated rostral and in close proximity to the lesion site in a subpopulation of neurons located ventrolaterally in the spinal cord. In summary, we show that the Notch pathway negatively regulates neurogenesis in the spinal cord in contrast to the retina and provide evidence that dopamine from the brain signals via the D4a receptor to promote the generation of motor neurons in addition to RA, which may also play a role in this process. These insights into adult neural progenitor cell activation in zebrafish may ultimately inform therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neuron disease.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive malignancy with extreme mortality and morbidity. Although initially chemo- and radio-sensitive, almost inevitable recurrence and resistance occurs. SCLC patients often present with metastases, making surgery not feasible. Current therapies, rationally designed on underlying pathogenesis, produce in vitro results, however, these have failed to translate into satisfactory clinical outcomes. Recently, research into cancer stem cells (CSCs) has gained momentum and form an attractive target for novel therapies. Based on this concept, CSCs are the cause of neoplastic tissue development that are inherently resistant to chemotherapy, explaining why conventional therapies can shrink the tumour but are unable to eliminate the tumour completely, leading to eventual recurrence. Here I demonstrate that SCLC H345 and H69 cell lines contain a subset of cells expressing CD133, a known CSC marker. CD133+ SCLC sub-population maintained their stem cell-like phenotype over a prolonged period of culture, differentiated in appropriate conditions and expressed the embryonic stem cell marker Oct-4 indicating their stem-like phenotype. Additionally, these cells displayed augmented clonogenic efficacy, were chemoresistant and tumorigenic in vivo, distinct from the CD133- cells. Thus, the SCLC CD133 expressing cells fulfil most criteria of CSClike definition. The molecular mechanisms associated with CD133+ SCLC chemoresistance and growth is unknown. Up-regulated Akt activity, a known promoter of resistance with survival advantage, was observed in CD133+ SCLC cells. Likewise, these cells demonstrated elevated expression of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein compared to their negative counterpart explaining CD133+ cell chemoresistance phenotype. Additionally, CD133+ cells revealed greater expression of neuropeptide receptors, gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) and V1A receptors compared to the CD133- cells. Addition of exogenous GRP and arginine vasopressin (AVP) to CD133+ SCLC cells promoted their clonogenic growth in semi-solid medium, illustrating for the first time neuropeptide dependent growth of these cells. A novel peptide (peptide-1) was designed based on the known structure of the substance P analogues that have shown benefit in animal models and in early clinical trials. This compound inhibited the growth of SCLC cells in in vitro with improved potency and stability compared to previous analogues and reduced tumorigenicity in vivo. Interestingly, peptide-1 was more effective in CD133+ cells due to increased expression of neuropeptide receptors on these cells. In conclusion, my results show that SCLC cells retain a sub-population of cells that demonstrate CSC-like phenotype. Preferential activation of Akt and Bcl-2 survival pathways and enhanced expression of neuropeptide receptors contribute to CD133+ SCLC chemoresistance and growth. Therefore, it can be proposed that CD133+ cells are the possible cause of SCLC development, treatment resistance and disease recurrence. Despite being chemoresistant, CD133+ cells demonstrated sensitivity to peptide-1. The identification of such new analogue that demonstrates efficacy towards resistant CD133+ SCLC cells is a very exciting step forward in the identification of a potential new therapy for resistant disease.

Atrophic non-union is a major complication following fracture of a bone. It represents a biological failure of the fracture healing process and occurs in 5-10% of cases. A number of factors predispose to atrophic non-union including high energy injuries, open fractures, diabetes, and smoking. Atrophic non-unions cause immense patient morbidity and consume large amount of health care resources. Bone grafts taken from the iliac crest contain biologic components required for fracture healing and are considered as the gold standard treatment of aseptic atrophic non-union. However, harvesting bone grafts from the iliac crest is associated with significant patient morbidity which can reduce quality of life. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to proliferate and undergo multilineage differentiation. The emergence of MSC therapy provides an alternative strategy for treating impaired fracture healing. MSCs contribute to normal fracture healing both directly as bone progenitor cells and indirectly as mediator secreting cells. Although a number of studies have shown that MSCs can promote bone regeneration in small animal fresh critical size defects, this is not analogous to most clinical aseptic atrophic non-unions which do not have a significant bone gap. There remains therefore a clinical need for an appropriate strategy for using stem cells in atrophic non-unions. Thus, the aim of this study aim was to develop a clinically relevant strategy to promote fracture healing in an atrophic non-union model using the percutaneous injection of MSCs as a minimally invasive technique. An atrophic non-union model was established and validated. A small (1 mm) non-critical size defect was created at the mid shaft tibia and the fracture site was stabilised using an external fixator. Atrophic non-union was induced by stripping the periosteum for one bone diameter either side of the osteotomy site and curettage of the intramedullary canal over the same distance. The procedure reliably created an atrophic non-union. Fracture healing was evaluated using (1) serial radiography, (2) micro-computed tomography, (3) histomorphology and (5) biomechanical testing. Fracture scoring systems including the radiographic union scale in tibia (RUST) and the Lane & Sandhu score were validated in a preclinical model. A simple sample preparation technique for evaluating bone mechanical properties was developed and used to assess the stiffness and strength of the fracture repair. Percutaneous injection of MSCs locally into the fracture site in the early ‘post-injury’ period at three weeks after induction of atrophic non-union was found to improve the fracture healing process significantly (83% of cases), while MSCs implantation in the late ‘post-injury’ period at eight weeks after induction of atrophic non-union showed no significant improvement of fracture healing (20% of cases). Percutaneous local implantation of MSCs rescued the fracture healing process in cases destined to progress to atrophic non-union. In clinical practice, there may be an advantage using MSCs from a universal donor as the processes of MSC isolation and preparation are expensive and time consuming. To investigate the feasibility of using non-autologous cells, the atrophic non-union was used to determine the bone regenerative potential of using xenogeneic donor hMSCs in an atrophic non-union. The results demonstrated that the therapeutic effect of using hMSCs in a xenogeneic manner to promote fracture healing in the rat atrophic non-union model was comparable with rMSCs (88% of cases in both hMSCs and rMSCs) and there were neither significant clinical adverse effects nor adverse immune responses with the xenogeneic transplantation. However, MSCs did not persist at the fracture following injection. Perivascular stem cells (PSCs) taken from adipose tissue, which is an expendable source, have advantages over conventional MSCs as they are a defined and homogenous population and can be used without culture expansion. The administration of PSC using percutaneous injection improved the fracture healing process in atrophic non-union (60% of cases). This suggested that PSCs may present an appropriate choice for use in cell therapies to promote fracture healing in atrophic non-union. The results from this thesis can be applied to the development of a clinically relevant strategy using MSCs as a minimally invasive technique to promote fracture healing in atrophic non-union, in particular (1) the effectiveness of a cell therapy is likely to be highly dependent of the timing of injection relative to the stage of fracture healing, (2) hMSCs were as effective as rMSCs in promoting fracture healing, suggesting that it may be feasible to use an allogeneic strategy in humans, (3) the injected MSCs were not detectable even in case of successful repair, suggesting that they may act through a paracrine effect and (4) PSCs isolated from adipose tissue contributed to fracture healing in the atrophic non-union model, suggesting that adipose tissues can be used as an alternative cell sources for bone repair.

Primary human hepatocytes are a scarce resource with variable function, which diminishes with time in culture. As a consequence their use in tissue modelling and therapy is restricted. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) could provide a stable source of human tissue due to their properties of self-renewal and their ability to give rise to all three germ layers. hESCs have the potential to provide an unlimited supply of hepatic endoderm (HE) which could offer efficient tools for drug discovery, disease modelling and therapeutic applications. In order to create a suitable environment to enhance HE formation, hESC culture needed to be standardised. As such, a media trail was carried out to define serum free media capable of maintaining hESC in a pluripotent undifferentiated state. We also ensured hESC cultured in the various media could be directly differentiated to HE in a reproducible and efficient manner. The project then focused on the effect of post-translational modifications (PTMs), specifically SUMOylation, in hepatocyte differentiation and its subsequent manipulation to enhance HE viability. SUMOylation is a PTM known to modify a large number of proteins that play a role in various cellular processes including: cell cycle regulation, gene transcription, differentiation and cellular localisation. We hypothesised that SUMO modification may not only regulate hESC self renewal, but also maybe required for efficient hESC differentiation. We therefore interrogated the role of SUMOylation in hESC differentiation to hepatic endoderm (HE). hESC were differentiated and the cellular lysates were analysed by Western blotting for key proteins which modulate the conjugation and de conjugation of SUMO. We demonstrate that peak levels of SUMOylation were detectable in hESC populations and during cellular differentiation to definitive endoderm (DE), day 5. Following commitment to DE we observed a decrease in the level of SUMO modified proteins during cellular specialisation to a hepatic fate, corresponding with an increase in SENP 1, a SUMO deconjugation enzyme. We also detected reduced levels of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 α (HNF4α), a critical regulator of hepatic status and metabolic function, as SUMOylation decreased. As a result, we investigated if HNF4α was SUMOylated and if this process was involved in modulating HNF4α’s critical role in HE. HNF4α is an important transcription factor involved in liver organogenesis during development and is a key regulator for efficient adult liver metabolic functions. We observed a decreasing pattern of HNF4α expression at day 17 of our differentiation protocol in conjunction with a decrease in SUMO modified proteins. In order to further investigate and validate a role of SUMOylation on HNF4α stability Immunoprecipitation (IP) was employed. HNF4α protein was pulled down and probed for SUMO 2. Results show an increase in the levels of SUMO2 modification as the levels of HNF4α decrease. Through deletion and mutation analysis we demonstrated that SUMO modification of HNF4α was restricted to the C-terminus on lysine 365. Protein degradation via the proteasome was responsible for the decrease in HNF4α, demonstrated by the use of a proteasome 26S inhibitor MG132. Additionally, a group at the University of Dundee has shown that polySUMOylation of promyelocytic leukaemia protein (PML) leads to its subsequent ubiquitination via RNF4, an ubiquitin E3 ligase, driving its degradation. Using an in vitro ubiquitination assay, we show that polySUMOylated HNF4α is preferentially ubiquitinated in the presence of RNF4. Overall polySUMOylation of HNF4α may reduce its stability by driving its degradation, hence regulating protein activity. In conclusion, polySUMOylation of HNF4α is associated with its stability. HNF4α is subsequently important for HE differentiation both driving the formation of the hepatocytes and in maintaining a mature phenotype, in agreement with a number of different laboratories. Creating the ideal environment for sustaining mature functional hepatocytes, primary and those derived from hESCs and iPSCs, is essential for further use in applications such as drug screening, disease modelling and extracorporeal devices.