Thyroid hormone enhances stem cell maintenance and promotes lineage-specific differentiation in human embryonic stem cells

BACKGROUND: Thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) is essential for embryogenesis and is commonly used during in vitro fertilization to ensure successful implantation. However, the regulatory mechanisms of T3 during early embryogenesis are largely unknown. METHOD: To study the impact of T3 on hPSCs, cell survival and growth were evaluated by measurement of cell growth curve, cloning efficiency, survival after passaging, cell apoptosis, and cell cycle status. Pluripotency was evaluated by RT-qPCR, immunostaining and FACS analysis of pluripotency markers. Metabolic status was analyzed using LC–MS/MS and Seahorse XF Cell Mito Stress Test. Global gene expression was analyzed using RNA-seq. To study the impact of T3 on lineage-specific differentiation, cells were subjected to T3 treatment during differentiation, and the outcome was evaluated using RT-qPCR, immunostaining and FACS analysis of lineage-specific markers. RESULTS: In this report, we use human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to show that T3 is beneficial for stem cell maintenance and promotes trophoblast differentiation. T3 enhances culture consistency by improving cell survival and passaging efficiency. It also modulates cellular metabolism and promotes energy production through oxidative phosphorylation. T3 helps maintain pluripotency by promoting ERK and SMAD2 signaling and reduces FGF2 dependence in chemically defined culture. Under BMP4 induction, T3 significantly enhances trophoblast differentiation. CONCLUSION: In summary, our study reveals the impact of T3 on stem cell culture through signal transduction and metabolism and highlights its potential role in improving stem cell applications. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13287-022-02799-y.