Embryonic stem cell (ESC) chromatin is characterized by a unique set of histone modifications, including enrichment for H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac). Recent studies suggest that histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors promote pluripotency. Here, using H3K9ac ChIP followed by high throughput sequencing analyses and gene expression in E14 mouse ESCs before and after treatment with a low level o...

Pluripotency and self-renewal are the defining traits of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and this status quo is maintained by the core transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog. Genome-wide mapping of the binding sites of these pivotal factors and other ESC transcriptional regulators has unraveled the transcriptional network governing pluripotency. Strikingly, a sizeable fraction of the binding s...

The male germinal lineage, which is defined as unipotent, produces sperm through spermatogenesis. However, embryonic primordial germ cells and postnatal spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) can change their fate and convert to pluripotency in culture when they are not controlled by the testicular microenvironment. The mechanisms underlying these reprogramming processes are poorly understood. Testic...

The therapeutic use of embryonic stem (ES)-derived cells is restricted by a risk of teratoma formation. To test the hypothesis that some cells with pluripotency characteristics remain following the differentiation of embryoid bodies (EB) into monolayer cells, we transformed mouse ES cells using constructs comprised of the mTert promoter coupled to green fluorescent protein. In this manner, EBs ...

1. Abstract 2. Introduction / Function of Lineage in Development 3. Emergence of Pluripotency 3.1. Teratoma formation 3.2. Pluripotency in developing embryos 3.3. Embryonic Stem Cells 4. Factors Associated with Pluripotency 4.1. Extrinsic stimuli 4.2. Intrinsic transcription factor network 4.3. Epigenetic controls 4.3.1. Cell cycle progression 4.3.2. Chromatin modification 5. Role of Pluripoten...

During differentiation, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) shut down the regulatory network conferring pluripotency in a process we designated pluripotent state dissolution (PSD). In a high-throughput RNAi screen using an inclusive set of differentiation conditions, we identify centrally important and context-dependent processes regulating PSD in hESCs, including histone acetylation, chromatin ...

Human dermal fibroblasts obtained by skin biopsy can be reprogrammed directly to pluripotency by the ectopic expression of defined transcription factors. Here, we describe the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells from CD34+ mobilized human peripheral blood cells using retroviral transduction of OCT4/SOX2/KLF4/MYC. Blood-derived human induced pluripotent stem cells are indistinguishable ...