The chemically and physically induced pluripotency in a stem cell is studied from the point of quantum transition between differentiation and pluripotency states in genes. The quantum folding theory of a macromolecule is briefly reviewed. The relation of protein folding rate with the number N of torsion modes participating in the quantum transition (coherence degree) is discussed and a simple s...

Pluripotency-associated transcription factor Foxd3 is required for maintaining pluripotent cells. However, molecular mechanisms underlying its function are largely unknown. Here, we report that Foxd3 suppresses differentiation induced by calcineurin-NFAT signaling to maintain the ESC identity. Mechanistically, Foxd3 interacts with NFAT proteins and recruits co-repressor Tle4, a member of the Tl...

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of Background malignant glioma and is also known as grade IV astrocytoma. This might be due to the presence of cancer stem cells with high pluripotency and ability of self-renewal. Recently, it has been reported that tumor stroma cells, including mesencyhmal stem cells (MSCs), secrete factors that affect cancer cell growth. Until now, th...

Pluripotency, the ability of a cell to give rise to all of the cells of an organism, is a fascinating and mysterious characteristic of embryonic stem (ES) cells. Recent extensive molecular studies of mouse ES cells have revealed the roles played by transcription factor networks and epigenetic processes in the maintenance of ES cell pluripotency (Niwa 2007). However, no direct evidence to connec...

Wnt signaling has been implicated in promoting somatic cell reprogramming. However, its molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Here we report that Wnt/β-catenin enhances iPSCs induction at the early stage of reprogramming. The augmented reprogramming induced by β-catenin is not due to increased total cell population or activation of c-Myc. In addition, β-catenin interacts with reprogramming facto...

Pluripotency-associated transcription factor Foxd3 is required for maintaining pluripotent cells. However, molecular mechanisms underlying its function are largely unknown. Here, we report that Foxd3 suppresses differentiation induced by calcineurin–NFAT signaling to maintain the ESC identity. Mechanistically, Foxd3 interacts with NFAT proteins and recruits co-repressor Tle4, a member of the Tl...

Epigenetic modifications that govern the gene expression are often overlooked with the design of artificial genetic switches. N-Methylpyrrole-N-methylimidazole (PI) hairpin polyamides are programmable small DNA binding molecules that have been studied in the context of gene regulation. Recently, we synthesized a library of compounds by conjugating PI polyamides with SAHA, a chromatin-modifier. ...

Protein function is often regulated and controlled by posttranslational modifications, such as oxidation. Although oxidation has been mainly considered to be uncontrolled and nonenzymatic, many enzymatic oxidations occur on enzyme-selected lysine residues; for instance, LOXL2 oxidizes lysines by converting the ε-amino groups into aldehyde groups. Using an unbiased proteomic approach, we have id...

The reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and MYC (OSKM) can reactivate the pluripotency network in terminally differentiated cells, but also regulate expression of non-pluripotency genes in other contexts, such as the mouse primitive endoderm. The primitive endoderm is an extraembryonic lineage established in parallel to the pluripotent epiblast in the blastocyst, and is the progenitor pool ...