Pluripotency News and Research

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Potential oocyte-specific factors that can drive somatic cell reprogramming

The promise of generating truly pluripotent stem cells from terminally differentiated adult cell types continues to captivate scientists who envision great potential for therapeutic interventions.

4 Jul 2018

Researchers shed light on how stem cells move

Researchers have made important discoveries about how stem cells move, interact with each other and respond to their environment.

13 Jun 2018

Mapping the Genes Responsible for Pluripotency

Dr. Atilgan Yilmaz and his team have developed a method by which they can produce haploid human embryonic stem cells from oocytes. They combined this technique with CRISPR-Cas9 to generate an atlas of the genome, containing the functions of over 18,000 genes.

23 May 2018

New UCLA study could elucidate certain causes of infertility and miscarriage

A new study in the journal Nature Cell Biology has uncovered information about a key stage that human embryonic cells must pass through just before an embryo implants. The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander Clark, could help explain certain causes of infertility and spontaneous miscarriage.

26 Apr 2018

Researchers target abnormal epigenetic mechanisms involved in childhood cancers

Several childhood cancer cell types show features of immature neural cells, and there is evidence suggesting that these tumors may arise from neural crest stem cells that underwent abnormal changes during embryonic development.

20 Feb 2018

Ribosomes found to be cause of somatic cell pluripotency

In 2012, a Japanese research group discovered that human skin cells acquire pluripotency when introduced to lactic acid bacteria. Now, the same group of researchers have found that the cause of somatic cell conversion into pluripotent stem cells is the ribosome, a protein synthesizing cellular organelle.

5 Feb 2018

Three-dimensional organization of genome plays key role in gene expression, cell fate

Scientists have long been reading the code of life - the genome -, as a sequence of letters but now researchers have also started exploring its three-dimensional organization.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists find key that allows neural differentiation of microRNA-deficient pluripotent stem cells

The more than 200 different types of human cells have the same DNA but express different ensembles of genes. Each cell type was derived from embryonic stem cells, which are called pluripotent stem cells because they can differentiate to all those different cell fates.

15 Nov 2017

Researchers find efficient way to produce neurons from pluripotent stem cells

Since their discovery in 2006, induced pluripotent stem cells are a glimmer of hope for many diseases. But further research of the complex regulation of pluripotent stem cell identity revealed unexpected difficulties.

13 Nov 2017

Scientists develop unique CRISPR-based method for more precise, systematic gene tagging

The genome editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9 has opened many doors for biomedical research by allowing scientists to precisely edit DNA sequences and alter function. The technology offers hope for correcting genetic defects and preventing disease.

24 Oct 2017

Sophisticated 'social control' system allows embryos to protect purity of pluripotent cell population

A sophisticated system of 'social control' operating between neighboring cells allows embryos to protect the purity of their pluripotent cell population, which is able to generate all body tissues.

27 Sep 2017

Researchers discover protein that makes stem cells into perfect allrounders

Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich have discovered the protein that enables natural embryonic stem cells to form all body cells.

28 Jun 2017

Stowers scientists provide evidence of cross-talk between Nanog and Hox genes

Competing regulatory genes "talk" to each other to maintain balance of cell state, according to new research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.

6 Jun 2017

Salk scientists discover chemical cocktail that enables stem cells to generate tissues

When scientists talk about laboratory stem cells being totipotent or pluripotent, they mean that the cells have the potential, like an embryo, to develop into any type of tissue in the body.

6 Apr 2017

Researchers shed light on genome reorganization after fertilization in single-cell mammalian embryo

Using a newly developed method researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have been able to shed light on the complexity of genome reorganization occurring during the first hours after fertilization in the single-cell mammalian embryo

30 Mar 2017

UT Southwestern scientists unravel role of PARP enzymes in major cellular activities

A component of an enzyme family linked to DNA repair, stress responses, and cancer also plays a role in enhancing or inhibiting major cellular activities under physiological conditions, new research shows.

16 Feb 2017

MGH researchers identify protein that may protect tumor-initiating cells in breast cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have identified a protein that may play an essential role in maintaining a population of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) -- treatment-resistant cells responsible for cancer recurrence and metastasis -- in breast cancer, as well as a compound that appears to reduce the molecule's ability to protect TICs from the effects of chemotherapy.

17 Jan 2017

Transcription factor Nanog plays key role in reproduction of embryonic stem cells

The transcription factor Nanog plays a crucial role in the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells.

25 Nov 2016

Tissue damage plays crucial role in cell reprogramming

Cell reprogramming does not happen exactly as we thought. In the pages of the journal Science, a team from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre has shown that tissue damage is a relevant factor for cells to go back to an embryonic state.

24 Nov 2016

Researchers uncover how vitamins A and C act to modify epigenetic cell memory

Vitamins A and C aren't just good for your health, they affect your DNA too. Researchers at the Babraham Institute and their international collaborators have discovered how vitamins A and C act to modify the epigenetic 'memory' held by cells; insight which is significant for regenerative medicine and our ability to reprogramme cells from one identity to another.

12 Oct 2016