Oleanolic acid has similar effects as retinoic acid in inducing mouse embryonic stem cell 1B10 to differentiate towards germ cells.

This study investigated the effects of the compound oleanolic acid (OA) in inducing mouse embryonic stem cells (MESC) to differentiate towards germ cells (GC). MESC 1B10 was used as the model cell. 1B10 was cultured, and embryoid bodies (EBs) were produced from 1B10. The EBs were allowed to attach to the bottoms of culturing disks and grow. OA was added into the medium to induce the EBs to differentiate. Retinoic acid (RA) was used as the positive drug. After 72 h, total RNA was extracted, cDNA was synthesized, and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was performed to measure the transcriptional expression profiles of 11 reproduction-related genes affected by OA and RA, respectively. When the data were compared, it was found that OA up-regulated the transcriptional levels of Oct-4, GDF-9, Stra8, Mvh, ZP2, ZP3, Itga6, and TP2, and down-regulated transcriptional levels of SCP3, ZP1, and Itgb1; RA up-regulated the transcriptional levels of GDF-9, Stra8, Mvh, ZP2, ZP3, Itga6, Itgb1, and TP2, and down-regulated the transcriptional levels of Oct-4, SCP3, and ZP1. The data showed that OA and RA had similar effects in inducing differentiation of MESC towards GC.