Role of mitochondrial development in hepatic commitment of embryonic stem cells

Studies on metabolic pathways, mitochondria and bioenergetics have been implicated in differentiation of precursor or tumor cells to the mature phenotype. Also, similar studies have been carried out on early embryo development to the blastocyst stage. However, there isn´t sufficient evidence of mitochondrial studies on a cellular basis in the early stages of commitment to a particular lineage. Thus, the study of bioenergetics during the early differentiation process with protein synthesis as a functional marker will help us understand how the metabolic machinery of embryonic stem cells adjusts to the realization of a particular fate. We have envisaged utilizing the potential of embryonic stem cells as a cell source to commit to the hepatocyte lineage in vitro in this regard. Using cardiolipin, a mitochondrial membrane component as a marker, we have shown a relationship between mitochondrial development and embryonic stem cell commitment to the hepatic lineage. From a mechanistic standpoint, this will broaden the scope of metabolic studies in in vitro ES cell differentiation systems and can be applied to early stage differentiation into cardiac, adipocyte and pancreatic lineages primarily due to their higher metabolic capacity.