Retinoic acid (RA) treatment simultaneously induces mESC differentiation and impacts lncRNA transcription. (A) Oct4 expression was highest in undifferentiated mESCs and rapidly decreased over the 6-d time course. (B) Nanog expression was initially elevated on RA treatment but was rapidly down-regulated by days 4 and 6. The expression of putative Oct4-regulated lncRNAs (C,E: dark gray bars) and putative Nanog-regulated lncRNAs (D,F: light gray bars) was examined in differentiating mESCs. Transcription of the lncRNAs AK028326 (C) and AK043754 (D) was elevated by day 2 and down-regulated relative to undifferentiated mESCs by days 4 and 6. In contrast, transcription of AK005651 (E) and, to a lesser extent, AK141205 (F) remained elevated relative to undifferentiated mESCs at all time points examined. (*) Significant difference relative to undifferentiated mESCs (P < 0.05, N = 6 replicates).
