title: Growth and differentiation factors of pluripotential stem cells.
abstract: The mammalian embryo develops as a quasi-stem cell system whose differentiation and pluripotentiality in vitro is controlled by a single regulatory factor, Differentiation Inhibiting Activity/Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (DIA/LIF). DIA/LIF is expressed in two distinct functional forms, derived from the use of alternate transcriptional start sites, one of which is freely diffusible and the other tightly associated with the extracellular matrix. The dissemination of the DIA/LIF signal is therefore under specific molecular control. The expression of DIA/LIF in vitro is both developmentally programmed and controlled by the action of other growth factors, the most notable of which are members of the fibroblast growth factor family expressed by the stem cells themselves. This indicates that differentiation and proliferation in early development of the mouse are controlled, at least in part, by an interactive network of specific growth and differentiation regulatory factors.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK.
authors: J K
authors: JK
authors: Heath
authors: A G
authors: AG
authors: Smith
authors: L W
authors: LW
authors: Hsu
authors: P D
authors: PD
authors: Rathjen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D015850:Interleukin-6; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D015850:Interleukin-6; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; C507838:Lif protein, mouse; D008222:Lymphokines