Primordial germ cells (PGCs), the embryonic precursors of the gametes of the adult animal, can give rise to two types of pluripotent stem cells. In vivo, PGCs can give rise to embryonal carcinoma cells, the pluripotent stem cells of testicular tumors. Cultured PGCs exposed to a specific cocktail of growth factors give rise to embryonic germ cells, pluripotent stem cells that can contribute to a...

Following the discovery of pluripotent stem (PS) cells such as embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, there has been a great hope that injured tissues can be repaired by transplantation of ES/iPS-derived various specific types of cells such as neural stem cells (NSCs). Although PS cells can be induced by ectopic expression of Yamanaka's factors, it is known that several s...

W hile stock markets and economies are smoldering all over the world, stem cell science is on fire. The promise of curing many untreatable forms of human male infertility is now one small step closer based on a recent paper in Cell. In this work, scientists from Kyoto University in Japan created mature, fertile sperm from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells by grabbing the primitive ge...

Human embryonic germ cells (EGCs) provide a powerful model for identifying molecules involved in the pluripotent state when compared to their progenitors, primordial germ cells (PGCs), and other pluripotent stem cells. Microarray and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) reveals for the first time that human EGCs possess a transcription profile distinct from PGCs and other pluripotent stem cells. ...

Objective(s): In some previous studies, the extract of embryonic carcinoma cells (ECCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been used to reprogram somatic cells to more dedifferentiated state. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mouse ESCs extract on the expression of some pluripotency markers in human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Materials and Methods: Human A...

Background: The recent improvements in wound healing have led to new strategies in regenerative medicine. Burn wound healing is an important issue in skin regeneration and has multiple indications for stem cell therapy. Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) are a highly promising source of stem cells for healing use, as these cells are accessible, active and pluripotent adult stem cells. Methods: HF...

Gold is rare and precious, while pyrite (FeS2) is abundant and cheap. Pyrite is nicknamed fool9 s gold, since pyrite looks like gold and it is even shinier and brighter than gold. It is very difficult to recognize the differences between a real natural gold and a gold-like rock (pyrite) to non-professional persons [1] , but we know that all that glitters is not gold. Similar mistakes can happen...

BACKGROUND Epigenetic regulation is critical for the maintenance of human pluripotent stem cells. It has been shown that pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, appear to have a hypermethylated status compared with differentiated cells. However, the epigenetic differences in genes that maintain stemness and regulate reprogramming between embryoni...

The maintenance of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), its loss during lineage specification or its re-induction to generate induced pluripotent stem cells are central topics in stem cell biology. To uncover the molecular basis and the design principles of pluripotency control, a multitude of experimental, but also an increasing number of computational, studies have been published. Her...

Typically, production of induced pluripotent stem cells requires direct contact with feeder cells. However, once the stem cells have reached the appropriate maturation point, it is difficult to separate them from feeder cells, which must be irradiated with γ-rays or treated with the antibiotic mitomycin-C. We used a microporous poly-membrane-based indirect contact co-culture system with m...