Roads to pluripotency

Do all roads lead to Oct4? The emerging concepts of induced pluripotency

Pluripotent cells have the potential to differentiate into all of the cell types of an animal. This unique cell state is governed by an interconnected network of transcription factors. Among these, Oct4 plays an essential role both in the development of pluripotent cells in the embryo and in the self-renewal of its in vitro counterpart, embryonic stem (ES) cells. Furthermore, Oct4 is one of the...

Roads to Institutionalization*

Speeding to Pluripotency

Finding a cell that reprograms in a nonstochastic manner without genetic manipulation has proven elusive. In this issue, Guo et al. report the identification of a cell defined by an ultrafast cycle whose progeny reprogram in a synchronous and rapid manner.

A Stepping Stone to Pluripotency

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells via either expression of transcription factors or addition of small molecule chemicals only. Zhao et al. reveal a unique intermediate state during chemical reprogramming allowing a significant improvement in its efficiency and kinetics.

The many roads to tremor.

Tremor represents one of the most prominent examples of aberrant synchronisation within the human motor system, and Essential Tremor (ET) is by far the most common tremor disorder. Yet, even within ET there is considerable variation, and patients may have contrasting amounts of postural and intention tremor. Recently, Pedrosa et al. (2013) challenged tremor circuits in a cohort of patients pres...