Defining Human Pluripotency

Atilgan Yilmaz; Nissim Benvenisty

doi:10.1016/j.stem.2019.06.010

Defining Human Pluripotency

Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Jul 3;25(1):9-22. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2019.06.010.

Authors

Atilgan Yilmaz¹, Nissim Benvenisty²

Affiliations

¹ The Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Department of Genetics, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus - Givat Ram, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
² The Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Department of Genetics, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus - Givat Ram, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. Electronic address: nissimb@mail.huji.ac.il.

PMID: 31271751
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2019.06.010

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cells harbor the capacity to differentiate into cells from the three embryonic germ layers, and this ability grants them a central role in modeling human disorders and in the field of regenerative medicine. Here, we review pluripotency in human cells with respect to four different aspects: (1) embryonic development, (2) transcriptomes of pluripotent cell stages, (3) genes and pathways that reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells, and finally (4) the recent identification of the human pluripotent stem cell essentialome. These four aspects of pluripotency collectively culminate in a broader understanding of what makes a cell pluripotent.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cell Differentiation
Cellular Reprogramming
Embryonic Development
Embryonic Stem Cells
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Humans
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / physiology*
Pluripotent Stem Cells / physiology*
Regenerative Medicine / trends*
Transcriptome