Figure 5
The expression levels of the miRNA biosynthesis genes Drosha, Dicer and eIF6 in differentiated cells compared to undifferentiated cells. Expression of Drosha decreases 65 fold while that of Dicer decreases 2.6 fold and of eIF6 decreased less than 2 fold upon differentiation of NTera2 cells. In contrast, the level of differential expression of each gene is within 1.0 fold in both undifferentiated and differentiated 2102Ep cells. Maintained expression of miRNA biosynthesis genes, therefore, is associated with the 2102Ep nullipotent phenotype.