A cell state splitter and differentiation wave working-model for embryonic stem cell development and somatic cell epigenetic reprogramming.
Cell fate determination and development is a biology question that has yet to be fully answered. During embryogenesis and in vivo stem cell differentiation, cells/tissues deploy epigenetic mechanisms to accomplish differentiation and give rise to the fully developed organism. Although a biochemistry description of cellular genetics and epigenetics is important, additional mechanisms are necessary to completely solve the problem of embryogenesis, especially differentiation and the spatiotemporal coordination of cells/tissues during morphogenesis. The cell state splitter and differentiation wave working-model was initially proposed to explain the homeostatic primary neural induction in amphibian embryos. Here the model is adopted to explain experimental findings on in vitro embryonic stem cell, pluripotency and differentiation. Moreover, since somatic cells can be reverted to a stem-cell-like pluripotent state through the laboratory procedure called epigenetic reprogramming, erection of a cell state splitter could be a key event in their successful reprogramming. Overall, the cell state splitter working-model introduces a bistable cytoskeletal mechanism that partially explains cell fate determination and biological development. It offers an interdisciplinary framework that bridges the gap between molecular epigenetics and embryogenesis.
Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. lukai83@gmail.com
Kai
K
Lu
Tong
T
Cao
Richard
R
Gordon
D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*