ArticleNucleic acids research2012
Neural stem cells exposed to BrdU lose their global DNA methylation and undergo astrocytic differentiation.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of Microplastics and Nanoplastics Exposure on Neurogenesis: Are Thymidine Analogs a Good Option to Study Such Effects?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- 5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling: historical perspectives, factors influencing the detection, toxicity, and its implications in the neurogenesis.Neural regeneration research · 2024Review
- Review
- Unexpected BrdU inhibition on astrocyte-to-neuron conversion.Neural regeneration research · 2022Article
- A simple flow cytometry-based assay to study global methylation levels in onion, a non-model species.Physiology and molecular biology of plants : an international journal of functional plant biology · 2021Article
- Review
- Programmed Epigenetic DNA Methylation-Mediated Reduced Neuroprogenitor Cell Proliferation and Differentiation in Small-for-Gestational-Age Offspring.Neuroscience · 2019Article
- Measurement of global DNA methylation levels by flow cytometry in mouse fibroblasts.In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal · 2017Article
- Coordinated niche-associated signals promote germline homeostasis in the Drosophila ovary.The Journal of cell biology · 2015Article
- Ethanol deregulates Mecp2/MeCP2 in differentiating neural stem cells via interplay between 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine at the Mecp2 regulatory elements.Experimental neurology · 2015Article
- Advancements in the Underlying Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia: Implications of DNA Methylation in Glial Cells.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2015Review
- Epigenetic choreography of stem cells: the DNA demethylation episode of development.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2014Review
- Decitabine alters the expression of Mecp2 isoforms via dynamic DNA methylation at the Mecp2 regulatory elements in neural stem cells.Molecular autism · 2013Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bromodeoxyuridine (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine, BrdU) is a halogenated nucleotide of low toxicity commonly used to monitor DNA replication. It is considered a valuable tool for in vitro and in vivo studies, including the detection of the small population of neural stem cells (NSC) in the mammalian brain. Here, we show that NSC grown in self-renewing conditions in vitro, when exposed to BrdU, lose the expression of stem cell markers like Nestin, Sox2 and Pax6 and undergo glial differentiation, strongly up-regulating the astrocytic marker GFAP. The onset of GFAP expression in BrdU exposed NSC was paralleled by a reduced expression of key DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) and a rapid loss of global DNA CpG methylation, as we determined by our specially developed analytic assay. Remarkably, a known DNA demethylating compound, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (Decitabine), had similar effect on demethylation and differentiation of NSC. Since our key findings apply also to NSC derived from murine forebrain, our observations strongly suggest more caution in BrdU uses in stem cells research. We also propose that BrdU and its related substances may also open new opportunities for differentiation therapy in oncology.
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Registered trials
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