E-Ras improves the efficiency of reprogramming by facilitating cell cycle progression through JNK–Sp1 pathway

Highlight•GTP(Guanosine-5'-triphosphate)-E-Ras induces JNK only, not ERK and p38.•Phosphorylated form of JNK leads to cyclin D and E expression which is mediated by the activation of Sp1.•Cyclin D and E promote the G1-S phase transition, leading to cell proliferation. These improve the reprogramming efficiency.

We have previously shown that pluripotent stem cells can be induced from adult somatic cells which were exposed to protein extracts isolated from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC). Interestingly, generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells depended on the background of ES cell lines; possible by extracts from C57, but not from E14. Proteomic analysis of two different mES cell lines (C57 and E14) shows that embryonic Ras (E-Ras) is expressed differently in two mES cell lines; high level of E-Ras only in C57 mESC whose extracts allows iPS cells production from somatic cells. Here, we show that E-Ras augments the efficiency in reprogramming of fibroblast by promoting cell proliferation. We found that over-expression of E-Ras in fibroblast increased cell proliferation which was caused by specific up-regulation of cyclins D and E, not A or B, leading to the accelerated G1 to S phase transition. To figure out the common transcription factor of cyclins D and E, we used TRANSFAC database and selected SP1 as a candidate which was confirmed as enhancer of cyclins D and E by luciferase promoter assay using mutants. As downstream signaling pathways, E-Ras activated only c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) but not ERK or p38. Inhibition of JNK prevented E-Ras-mediated induction of pSP1, cyclins D, E, and cell proliferation. Finally, E-Ras transduction to fibroblast enhanced the efficiency of iPS cell generation by 4 factors (Oct4/Klf4/Sox2/C-myc), which was prevented by JNK inhibitor. In conclusion, E-Ras stimulates JNK, enhances binding of Sp1 on the promoter of cyclins D and E, leading to cell proliferation. E-Ras/JNK axis is a critical mechanism to generate iPS cells by transduction of 4 factors or by treatment of mESC protein extracts.