Pluripotent stem cells are derived from culture of early embryos or the germline and can be induced by reprogramming of somatic cells. Barriers to reprogramming that stabilize the differentiated state and have tumor suppression functions are expected to exist. However, we have a limited understanding of what such barriers might be. To find novel barriers to reprogramming to pluripotency, we com...

A large number of EBV immortalized LCLs have been generated and maintained in genetic/epidemiological studies as a perpetual source of DNA and as a surrogate in vitro cell model. Recent successes in reprograming LCLs into iPSCs have paved the way for generating more relevant in vitro disease models using this existing bioresource. However, the overall reprogramming efficiency and success rate r...

Forced-expression of transcription factors can reprogram somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Recent studies show that the reprogramming efficiency can be improved by inclusion of small molecules that regulate chromatin modifying enzymes. We report here that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), a member of the sirtuin family of NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylases, is involved in iPSC forma...

How to induce differentiated cells into pluripotent cells has elicited researchers’ interests for a long time since pluripotent stem cells are able to offer remarkable potential in numerous subfields of biological research. However, the nature of cell reprogramming, especially the mechanisms still remain elusive for the sake of most protocols of inducing pluripotent stem cells were discovered b...

During development, cells transition from a pluripotent to a differentiated state, generating all the different types of cells in the body. Development is generally considered an irreversible process, meaning that a differentiated cell is thought to be unable to return to the pluripotent state. However, it is now possible to reprogrammature cells to pluripotency. It is generally thought that re...

Ectopic expression of Oct4, Sox2, cMyc, and Klf4 confers a pluripotent state upon several differentiated cell types, generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) [1-8]. iPSC derivation is highly inefficient, and the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. This low efficiency suggests the existence of additional cooperative factors whose identification is critical for understanding repro...

Reprogramming of somatic cells into inducible pluripotent stem cells generally occurs at low efficiency, although what limits reprogramming of particular cell types is poorly understood. Recent data suggest that the differentiation status of the cell targeted for reprogramming may influence its susceptibility to reprogramming as well as the differentiation potential of the induced pluripotent s...

objective(s): similar characteristics of molecular pathways between cellular reprogramming events and tumorigenesis have been accentuated in recent years. reprogramming-related transcription factors, also known as yamanaka factors (oct4, sox2, klf4, and c-myc), are also well-known oncogenes promoting cancer initiation, progression, and cellular transformation into cancer stem cells. long non-co...

Background: At the outset of the somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) process, the chromatin structure of the somatic cell which governs its state of differentiation undergoes dramatic changes, called reprogramming, and is compelled back to the embryonic stage. However, the overall epigenetic makeup of the resultant cloned embryos has been acknowledged far different from the fertilized embryos....

Many problems from AI have been successfully solved using fuzzy techniques. On the other hand, there are many other AI problems, in which logic programming (LP) techniques have been very useful. Since we have two successful techniques, why not combine them?