Abstract
Living organisms, from virus to human, rely on the transcription machinery to express specific parts of their genomes to execute critical biological functions during their life cycle by responding to environmental or developmental signals. Thus, transcription constitutes a critical step in regulating biological processes, and transcription factors have been considered as master switches for cell fate determination. Stem cell biology has benefited from rapid advances in recent years, largely because of the characterization of several transcription factors as master regulators of stem cell pluripotency. The same factors, viz. Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Klf4, and Myc, have been shown to possess the magic power to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent ones, a remarkable achievement with both practical and theoretical implications. This minireview summarizes recent advances in pluripotency and reprogramming by focusing on key transcription factors and the likely mechanisms.
Highlights
Living organisms, from virus to human, rely on the transcription machinery to express specific parts of their genomes to execute critical biological functions during their life cycle by responding to environmental or developmental signals
Transcription constitutes a critical step in regulating biological processes, and transcription factors have been considered as master switches for cell fate determination
Stem cell biology has benefited from rapid advances in recent years, largely because of the characterization of several transcription factors as master regulators of stem cell pluripotency
Summary
The same factors, viz. Oct, Sox, Nanog, Klf, and Myc, have been shown to possess the magic power to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent ones, a remarkable achievement with both practical and theoretical implications This minireview summarizes recent advances in pluripotency and reprogramming by focusing on key transcription factors and the likely mechanisms. Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms governing ES cell pluripotency have provided insights into the role of transcription factors such as Oct and Nanog in maintaining ES cells in the undifferentiated state (8 –11) These pluripotency factors, Oct, Sox, and Nanog, have been shown to participate in the reprogramming of differentiated cells back to pluripotent states [12, 13]. I will attempt to explain pluripotency and reprogramming in the context of transcription factors and will discuss the related challenges and opportunities
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
