Deciphering the stem cell machinery as a basis for understanding the molecular mechanism underlying reprogramming.
Stem cells provide fascinating prospects for biomedical applications by combining the ability to renew themselves and to differentiate into specialized cell types. Since the first isolation of embryonic stem (ES) cells about 30 years ago, there has been a series of groundbreaking discoveries that have the potential to revolutionize modern life science. For a long time, embryos or germ cell-derived cells were thought to be the only source of pluripotency--a dogma that has been challenged during the last decade. Several findings revealed that cell differentiation from (stem) cells to mature cells is not in fact an irreversible process. The molecular mechanism underlying cellular reprogramming is poorly understood thus far. Identifying how pluripotency maintenance takes place in ES cells can help us to understand how pluripotency induction is regulated. Here, we review recent advances in the field of stem cell regulation focusing on key transcription factors and their functional interplay with non-coding RNAs.
Bosnali
Manal
M
Stem Cell Engineering Group, Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn, Life & Brain Center and Hertie Foundation, Sigmund-Freud Strasse 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
Münst
Bernhard
B
Thier
Marc
M
Edenhofer
Frank
F
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology
D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3