Molecular Mechanisms of Stem Cell Pluripotency and Cell Fate Specification

Molecular Mechanisms of Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency

Embryonic stem (ES) cells isolated from the inner cell mass (ICM) of blastocysts possess the defining pluroptency: unlimited self-renewal and giving rise to all cells of the organ‐ ism[1, 2]. Thus, ES cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine to treat many dis‐ eases including heart failure, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease by replacing the damaged cells with ES cell-deriv...

Hermaphrodite cell-fate specification.

There are two sexes in C. elegans, hermaphrodite and male. While there are many sex-specific differences between males and hermaphrodites that affect most tissues, the basic body plan and many of its structures are identical. However, most structures required for mating or reproduction are sexually dimorphic and are generated by sex-specific cell lineages. Thus to understand cell fate specifica...

Stem Cell Pluripotency and Differentiation

Specification of neural cell fate and regulation of neural stem cell proliferation by microRNAs.

In the approximately 20 years since microRNAs (miRNAs) were first characterized, they have been shown to play important roles in diverse physiologic functions, particularly those requiring coordinated changes in networks of signaling pathways. The ability of miRNAs to silence expression of multiple gene targets hints at complex connections that research has only begun to elucidate. The nervous ...

Molecular mechanisms of germline stem cell regulation.

Germline stem cells (GSCs), which can self-renew and generate differentiated progeny, are unique stem cells in that they are solely dedicated to reproduction and transmit genetic information from generation to generation. Through the use of genetic techniques in Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, and mouse, exciting progress has been made in understanding molecular mechanisms underlying intera...