title: Reviewing and updating the major molecular markers for stem cells.
abstract: Stem cells (SC) are able to self-renew and to differentiate into many types of committed cells, making SCs interesting for cellular therapy. However, the pool of SCs in vivo and in vitro consists of a mix of cells at several stages of differentiation, making it difficult to obtain a homogeneous population of SCs for research. Therefore, it is important to isolate and characterize unambiguous molecular markers that can be applied to SCs. Here, we review classical and new candidate molecular markers that have been established to show a molecular profile for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The commonly cited markers for embryonic ESCs are Nanog, Oct-4, Sox-2, Rex-1, Dnmt3b, Lin-28, Tdgf1, FoxD3, Tert, Utf-1, Gal, Cx43, Gdf3, Gtcm1, Terf1, Terf2, Lefty A, and Lefty B. MSCs are primarily identified by the expression of CD13, CD29, CD44, CD49e, CD54, CD71, CD73, CD90, CD105, CD106, CD166, and HLA-ABC and lack CD14, CD31, CD34, CD45, CD62E, CD62L, CD62P, and HLA-DR expression. HSCs are mainly isolated based on the expression of CD34, but the combination of this marker with CD133 and CD90, together with a lack of CD38 and other lineage markers, provides the most homogeneous pool of SCs. Here, we present new and alternative markers for SCs, along with microRNA profiles, for these cells.
authors: Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Centro de Biotecnologia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors: Raquel
authors: R
authors: Calloni
authors: Elvira Alicia Aparicio
authors: EA
authors: Cordero
authors: João Antonio Pêgas
authors: JA
authors: Henriques
authors: Diego
authors: D
authors: Bonatto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000378:metabolism; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000097584:DNA Methyltransferase 3B; C000715187:Lin28A protein, human; C070636:TDGF1 protein, human; C484738:UTF1 protein, human