Pluripotent State
Pluripotent State - Related Videos
08:58
Induced Pluripotency
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2023
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are somatic cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to form undifferentiated stem cells. Like embryonic stem cells, iPSCs can be grown in culture conditions that promote differentiation into different cell types. Thus, iPSCs may provide a potentially unlimited source of any human cell type, which is a major breakthrough in the field of regenerative medicine. However, more research into the derivation and differentiation of iPSCs is still needed to...
01:13
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
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2019
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce different types of cells. Ordinarily, cells that have differentiated into a specific cell type are post-mitotic—that is, they no longer divide. However, scientists have found a way to reprogram these mature cells so that they “de-differentiate” and return to an unspecialized, proliferative state. These cells are also pluripotent like embryonic stem cells—able to produce all cell types—and are therefore called induced pluripotent stem...
11:56
Generation of Mice Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
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Cited by 16 •
2012
Generating induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines produces lines of differing developmental potential even when they pass standard tests for pluripotency. Here we describe a protocol to produce mice derived entirely from iPSCs, which defines the iPSC lines as possessing full pluripotency1.
10:49
The Specification of Telencephalic Glutamatergic Neurons from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
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Cited by 38 •
2013
This procedure yields telencephalic neurons by going through checkpoints which are similar to those observed during human development. The cells are allowed to spontaneously differentiate, are exposed to factors which push them towards the neural lineage, are isolated, and are plated onto coverslips to allow for terminal differentiation and maturation.
06:40
Directed Dopaminergic Neuron Differentiation from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
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Cited by 58 •
2014
We, based on knowledge from developmental biology and published research, developed an optimized protocol to efficiently generate A9 midbrain dopaminergic neurons from both human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells, which would be useful for disease modeling and cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease.
FAQs
Pluripotent State maintenance relies on three coordinated control layers: transcription-factor networks, cell-signaling pathways, and epigenetic regulation. Together, these systems sustain expression of genes associated with the stem-cell condition while restraining signals that would trigger premature lineage commitment. Their coordination explains why maintaining cell identity requires more than a single regulatory molecule.
If pluripotent cells activate lineage-specific programs too early, they may lose the gene-expression condition that supports continued self-renewal. The regulatory systems described in the overview therefore have a dual task: they preserve stem-cell gene expression and hold differentiation in check until appropriate developmental or experimental signals promote a change in identity. This balance is central to studying cell fate.
Natural pluripotency appears during early embryonic development, whereas induced pluripotency is created by reprogramming differentiated cells. The distinction lets biologists compare a naturally occurring route to the pluripotent state with an experimentally produced one. It also makes induced pluripotent stem cells useful for studying how cell identity can be changed after differentiation has already occurred.
Reprogramming generates induced pluripotent stem cells by taking differentiated cells back into a pluripotent condition. Conceptually, this makes cell identity experimentally changeable rather than restricted to naturally occurring early embryonic development. In biology, that transition offers a way to investigate how established gene-expression patterns are reset and how pluripotency can be studied outside its natural developmental setting.
Developmental biology uses pluripotent cells to examine how cell identity is established and subsequently redirected toward specialized fates. Because these cells can be maintained before differentiation, researchers can study the transition between a stem-cell condition and lineage commitment. This makes the pluripotent state relevant to questions about early development and the control of cell-fate decisions.
Pluripotent cells support disease modeling and drug screening because they provide a renewable cellular context in which disease-related biology or responses to candidate compounds can be examined. Their value comes from the ability to maintain the pluripotent condition and then study specialized cell outcomes after differentiation, linking cell-state regulation with experimental investigation of disease and therapeutics.
In regenerative medicine, pluripotent cells provide a research system for examining how stem cells can produce specialized cell types. Their capacity for self-renewal supports continued study, while their differentiation potential allows researchers to investigate the generation of different cellular identities. This connects pluripotency research with efforts to understand how cell-based approaches might address tissue or cell loss.