How is pluripotency determined and maintained?
Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent, as they have the ability to differentiate into the various cell types of a vertebrate embryo. Pluripotency is a property of the inner cell mass (ICM), from which mouse ES cells are derived, and of the epiblast of the blastocyst. Recent extensive molecular studies of mouse ES cells have revealed the unique molecular mechanisms that govern pluripotency. These studies show that ES cells continue to self-renew because of a self-organizing network of transcription factors that prevents their differentiation and promotes their proliferation, and because of epigenetic processes that might be under the control of the pluripotent transcription factor network.
Niwa
Hitoshi
H
RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB Laboratory for Development and Regenerative Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunokicho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 6500017, Japan. niwa@cdb.riken.jp
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors