Reprogramming of somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represents a profound change in cell fate. Here, we show that combining ascorbic acid (AA) and 2i (MAP kinase and GSK inhibitors) increases the efficiency of reprogramming from fibroblasts and synergistically enhances conversion of partially reprogrammed intermediates to the iPSC state. AA and 2i induce differential transc...

Analyses of gene expression in single mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) cultured in serum and LIF revealed the presence of two distinct cell subpopulations with individual gene expression signatures. Comparisons with published data revealed that cells in the first subpopulation are phenotypically similar to cells isolated from the inner cell mass (ICM). In contrast, cells in the second subpopu...

Genome-wide DNA methylation reprogramming occurs in mouse primordial germ cells (PGCs) and preimplantation embryos, but the precise dynamics and biological outcomes are largely unknown. We have carried out whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (BS-Seq) and RNA-Seq across key stages from E6.5 epiblast to E16.5 PGCs. Global loss of methylation takes place during PGC expansion and migration with evide...

The events regulating human preimplantation development are still largely unknown owing to a scarcity of material, ethical and legal limitations and a lack of reliable techniques to faithfully amplify the transcriptome of a single cell. Nonetheless, human embryology is gathering renewed interest due to its close relationship with both stem cell biology and epigenetic reprogramming to pluripoten...

Pluripotency is defined by a cell's potential to differentiate into any somatic cell type. How pluripotency is transited during embryo implantation, followed by cell lineage specification and establishment of the basic body plan, is poorly understood. Here we report the transcription factor Zfp281 functions in the exit from naive pluripotency occurring coincident with pre-to-post-implantation m...

Type II germ cell cancers (GCC) can be subdivided into seminomas and non-seminomas. Seminomas are similar to carcinoma in situ (CIS) cells, the common precursor of type II GCCs, with regard to epigenetics and expression, while embryonal carcinomas (EC) are totipotent and differentiate into teratomas, yolk-sac tumors and choriocarcinomas. GCCs can present as seminomas with a non-seminoma compone...

The MYC proto-oncogene, which encodes a master transcriptional regulator c-Myc (herein termed Myc), has a key role in stem cell (SC) pluripotency and tumourigenesis. Its deregulated expression contributes to cancer development and enhances the efficiency of reprogramming differentiated cells back to a pluripotent state in induced pluripotent SCs (iPSCs) that resemble embryonic SCs (ESCs). In ad...

Malignancy of cancer has been linked to distinct subsets of stem-like cells, the so-called cancer stem cells (CSCs), which persist during treatment and seem to lead to drug-resistant recurrence. Metastatic spread of cancer cells is one of the hallmarks of malignancy and contributes to most human melanoma-related deaths. Recently, overlapping groups of proteins and pathways were shown to regulat...

Pluripotency, the capacity of a cell to give rise to differentiated derivatives that represent each of the three primary germ layers, belongs to the cells that are located within the inner cell mass (ICM) of the developing blastocyst. Functional studies have identified a group of transcription factors, the pluripotency transcription factors that affect the pluripotent capacity. Within this grou...

Haplo-insufficiency of telomerase genes in humans leads to telomere syndromes such as dyskeratosis congenital and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Generation of pluripotent stem cells from telomerase haplo-insufficient donor cells would provide unique opportunities toward the realization of patient-specific stem cell therapies. Recently, pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (ntESCs) have been e...