Fig. 1

Gsr is upregulated in ESCs cultured without LIF. R1 ESCs were cultured under standard conditions in the presence of LIF, or in the absence of LIF for 4 days. a Representative pictures of cells cultured with LIF (+LIF) and without LIF (−LIF) after 4 days of treatment. Scale bars: 100 µm. b RNA was extracted and mRNA levels of Oct4, Nanog and Gsr were measured by RT-qPCR. Gene expression was normalized to the geometrical mean of Gapdh and Pgk1 expression and referred to the control condition (with LIF, shown as a line). Results are shown as mean ± SEM of four independent experiments (different letters indicate significant differences, p < 0.05). c Representative immunostaining of Nanog for R1 ESCs cultured in the presence of LIF (+LIF) or in the absence of LIF for 4 days (−LIF). Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. Scale bars: 20 μm. The nuclear intensities were quantified and represented as dot plots, mean ± SEM are indicated, *p < 0.05