Characterization of distinct states of human nave and primed pluriopotency

Pluripotency of mammalian stem cells is stabilized at different status depending upon the extracellular stimuli of their environment. Now, there is a consensus that mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and iPSCs (miPSCs) represent undifferentiated status very close to ground-state of mammalian development when cultured in optimal condition. Since they have not been activated to commit into any lineages, they are stated as nave-state stem cells. In contrast, human ESCs (hESCs), hiPSCs, and mEpiSCs are considered to possess partially differentiated characteristics compared with mESCs and miPSCs. Thus, they are stated as primed-state stem cells. Investigation of the prerequisites for establishment of the nave-state is significantly important to fully understand mammalian development and to extrapolate the technologies developed with mouse ES/iPS cells for human.

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