Pluripotent Stem Cells Induced from Mouse Somatic Cells by Small-Molecule Compounds

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6146) ◽  
pp. 651-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pingping Hou ◽  
Yanqin Li ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Chun Liu ◽  
Jingyang Guan ◽  
...  

Pluripotent stem cells can be induced from somatic cells, providing an unlimited cell resource, with potential for studying disease and use in regenerative medicine. However, genetic manipulation and technically challenging strategies such as nuclear transfer used in reprogramming limit their clinical applications. Here, we show that pluripotent stem cells can be generated from mouse somatic cells at a frequency up to 0.2% using a combination of seven small-molecule compounds. The chemically induced pluripotent stem cells resemble embryonic stem cells in terms of their gene expression profiles, epigenetic status, and potential for differentiation and germline transmission. By using small molecules, exogenous “master genes” are dispensable for cell fate reprogramming. This chemical reprogramming strategy has potential use in generating functional desirable cell types for clinical applications.

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (51) ◽  
pp. 17659-17671
Author(s):  
Nicole Ziegler ◽  
Erik Bader ◽  
Alexey Epanchintsev ◽  
Daniel Margerie ◽  
Aimo Kannt ◽  
...  

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key regulator of energy metabolism that phosphorylates a wide range of proteins to maintain cellular homeostasis. AMPK consists of three subunits: α, β, and γ. AMPKα and β are encoded by two genes, the γ subunit by three genes, all of which are expressed in a tissue-specific manner. It is not fully understood, whether individual isoforms have different functions. Using RNA-Seq technology, we provide evidence that the loss of AMPKβ1 and AMPKβ2 lead to different gene expression profiles in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), indicating isoform-specific function. The knockout of AMPKβ2 was associated with a higher number of differentially regulated genes than the deletion of AMPKβ1, suggesting that AMPKβ2 has a more comprehensive impact on the transcriptome. Bioinformatics analysis identified cell differentiation as one biological function being specifically associated with AMPKβ2. Correspondingly, the two isoforms differentially affected lineage decision toward a cardiac cell fate. Although the lack of PRKAB1 impacted differentiation into cardiomyocytes only at late stages of cardiac maturation, the availability of PRKAB2 was indispensable for mesoderm specification as shown by gene expression analysis and histochemical staining for cardiac lineage markers such as cTnT, GATA4, and NKX2.5. Ultimately, the lack of AMPKβ1 impairs, whereas deficiency of AMPKβ2 abrogates differentiation into cardiomyocytes. Finally, we demonstrate that AMPK affects cellular physiology by engaging in the regulation of hiPSC transcription in an isoform-specific manner, providing the basis for further investigations elucidating the role of dedicated AMPK subunits in the modulation of gene expression.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (20) ◽  
pp. 3482-3489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana E. Salazar-Noratto ◽  
Frank P. Barry ◽  
Robert E. Guldberg

Disease-specific pluripotent stem cells can be derived through genetic manipulation of embryonic stem cells or by reprogramming somatic cells (induced pluripotent stem cells).


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Afshar ◽  
Hamid-Reza Aghayan ◽  
Jila Sadighi ◽  
Babak Arjmand ◽  
Seyed-Mahmoud Hashemi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Regenerative medicine plays a major role in biomedicine, and given the ever-expanding boundaries of this knowledge, numerous ethical considerations have been raised. Main text Rapid advancement of regenerative medicine science and technology in Iran, emerged the Iranian National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research to develop a comprehensive national ethical guideline. Therefore, the present ethical guideline which comprises eleven chapters was developed in 2019 and approved in early 2020. The titles of these chapters were selected based on the ethical considerations of various aspects of the field of regenerative medicine: (1) ethical principles of research on stem cells and regenerative medicine; (2) ethical considerations for research on stem cells (embryonic stem cells, epiblast stem cells, tissue-specific stem cells, stem cells derived from transdifferentiation, induced pluripotent stem cells [iPSCs], germline pluripotent stem cells, germline stem cells, and somatic cell nuclear transfer [SCNT] stem cells); (3) ethical considerations for research on somatic cells in regenerative medicine (adult somatic cells, fetal tissue somatic cells, and somatic cells derived from pregnancy products [other than fetus]); (4) ethical considerations for research on gametes in regenerative medicine; (5) ethical considerations for research related to genetic manipulation (human and animal) in regenerative medicine; (6) ethical considerations for research on tissue engineering in regenerative medicine; (7) ethical considerations for pre-clinical studies in regenerative medicine; (8) ethical considerations for clinical trials in regenerative medicine; (9) ethical considerations for stem cells and regenerative medicine bio-banks; (10) ethical considerations for privacy and confidentiality; and (11) ethical considerations for obtaining informed consent. Conclusion This article discusses the process of developing the present ethical guidelines and its practical points. We hope that it can play an important worldwide role in advancing ethics of research on stem cells and regenerative medicine.


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