We investigated the relationship between promoter methylation and tracheal stem cell activation. We developed a model of rat tracheal epithelium regeneration after 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced injury. Using immunohistochemistry and Western blotting, the expression levels of the stem cell pluripotency regulator Oct3/4 and differentiation marker CK14 were measured after 5-FU treatment. The methy...

BACKGROUND The precise etiology of endometriosis is not fully understood; the involvement of stem cells theory is a new hypothesis. Related studies mainly focus on stemness-related genes, and pluripotency markers may play a role in the etiology of endometriosis. We aimed to analyze the transcription pluripotency factors sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2), Nanog homeobox (NANOG), and octamer-...

Much of development and disease concerns the generation of gene expression differences between related cells sharing similar niches. However, most analyses of gene expression only assess population and time-averaged levels of steady-state transcription. The mechanisms driving differentiation are buried within snapshots of the average cell, lacking dynamic information and the diverse regulatory ...

The level of the transcription factor Nanog directly determines the efficiency of mouse embryonic stem cell self-renewal. Nanog protein exists as a dimer with the dimerization domain composed of a simple repeat region in which every fifth residue is a tryptophan, the tryptophan repeat (WR). Although WR is necessary to enable Nanog to confer LIF-independent self-renewal, the mechanism of dimeriz...

MiR-134 is a brain-enriched miRNA that plays an essential role in the development of the embryonic stem cell-orientated differentiation to central nervous system by suppression of Nanog and neural development (including neurons, cylindraxile and dendrites) and has been shown to be downregulated in oligodendrogliomas (ODG) and glioblastomas (GBM), suggesting its possible involvement in brain tum...

Vertebrate development requires progressive commitment of embryonic cells into specific lineages through a continuum of signals that play off differentiation versus multipotency. In mammals, Nanog is a key transcription factor that maintains cellular pluripotency by controlling competence to respond to differentiation cues. Nanog orthologs are known in most vertebrates examined to date, but abs...

The unique characteristics of stem cells—their ability to self-renew and to differentiate into many different cell types—has prompted hopes that they can be exploited to boost regeneration of damaged tissues. A first step in commandeering these cells for therapeutic benefit is to elucidate the key molecules and pathways that govern stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Using embryonic, ne...

Human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) are pluripotent cells derived from the ICM of blastocyst stage embryos. As the factors needed for their growth are largely undefined, they are propagated on feeder cells or with conditioned media from feeder cells. This is in contrast to mouse embryonic stem cells (MESCs) where addition of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) replaces the need for a feeder layer. ...

The genetic networks controlling stem cell identity are the focus of intense interest, due to their obvious therapeutic potential as well as exceptional relevance to models of early development. Genome-wide mapping of transcriptional networks in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) reveals that many endogenous noncoding RNA molecules, including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), may play a role in co...

N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) modification of mRNA plays a role in regulating embryonic stem cell pluripotency. However, the physiological signals that determine the balance between methylation and demethylation have not been described, nor have studies addressed the role of m(6)A in cancer stem cells. We report that exposure of breast cancer cells to hypoxia stimulated hypoxia-inducible factor ...