Characterization of Mst-/- ES cells.

<p>(A) Quantitative real-time PCR to examine the mRNA level of pluripotent markers <i>Pou5f1</i>, <i>Sox2</i> and <i>Nanog</i> in wild type ES cells and <i>Mst-/</i>- knockout ES cells. <i>Actin</i> was analyzed as an internal control. The data are shown as the mean ± S.D (n=3). Statistically significant differences are indicated (*, P<0.05; **, P<0.01; ***, P<0.001). (B) Immunofluorescence staining of the pluripotent protein Oct4 and SSEA1 expression in wild type ES cells and <i>Mst-/</i>- knockout ES cells. Neuclei were stained with DAPI. Scale bar, 200μm. (<i>C</i>) Immunoblotting and densitometric analysis of Nanog and Oct4 in wild type ES cells and <i>Mst-/</i>- ES cells. Gapdh1 was analyzed as an internal control. The data are shown as the mean ± S.D (n=2). Statistically significant differences are indicated (*, P<0.05; **, P<0.01; ***, P<0.001). (D) Immunoblotting and densitometric analysis of the expression of Yap and phosphorylated Yap (YapS127) in wild type ES cells and <i>Mst-/</i>- ES cells. Gapdh1 was analyzed as an internal control. The data are shown as the mean ± S.D (n=2). Statistically significant differences are indicated (*, P<0.05; **, P<0.01; ***, P<0.001).