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Pluripotent Stem Cells: Origin, Maintenance and Induction

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Abstract

Pluripotency is defined as the potential of a cell to differentiate into cells of the three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. In vivo, the presence of pluripotent stem cells is transient during the very early embryo. However, immortal cell lines with the same properties can be obtained in vitro and grown indefinitely in laboratories under specific conditions. These cells can be induced to differentiate into all the cell types of the organism through different assays, thereby proving their functional pluripotency. This review focuses on the pluripotent stem cells of mammals, giving special attention to the comparison between mouse and human. In particular, embryonic stem cells, epiblast-derived stem cells, primordial germ cells, embryonic germ cells, very small embryonic-like cells and induced pluripotent stem cells will be compared in terms of the following: in vivo specification and location; surface and intracellular markers; in vitro dependence on growth factors; signal transduction pathways; epigenetic characteristics; and pluripotency genes and functional assays.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from the “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias”, Ministry of Health, and Agencia Laín Entralgo, Madrid, Spain; SAF2008-03837 from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain and from the Foundation Mutua Madrileña, Spain. The authors wish to acknowledge Fatima Dominguez for excellent technical assistance, Jaime Posadas Fernandez for original drawing art and Gareth William Osborne for linguistic assistance.

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The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

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  1. Cell Engineering Laboratory, La Paz Hospital Research Institute, IdiPAZ, Paseo Castellana 261, Madrid, 28046, Spain

    Maria P. De Miguel, Sherezade Fuentes-Julián & Yago Alcaina

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  1. Maria P. De Miguel
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P. De Miguel, M., Fuentes-Julián, S. & Alcaina, Y. Pluripotent Stem Cells: Origin, Maintenance and Induction. Stem Cell Rev and Rep 6, 633–649 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-010-9170-1

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