TY - JOUR

T1 - The molecular underpinnings of totipotency

AU - Morgani, Sophie Maria Christina

AU - Brickman, Joshua Mark

PY - 2014/10/27

Y1 - 2014/10/27

N2 - Embryonic stem (ES) cells are characterized by their functional potency and capacity to self-renew in culture. Historically, ES cells have been defined as pluripotent, able to make the embryonic but not the extraembryonic lineages (such as the yolk sac and the placenta). The functional capacity of ES cells has been judged based on their ability to contribute to all somatic lineages when they are introduced into an embryo. However, a number of recent reports have suggested that under certain conditions, ES cells, and other reprogrammed cell lines, can also contribute to the extraembryonic lineages and, therefore, can be said to be totipotent. Here, we consider the molecular basis for this totipotent state, its transcriptional signature and the signalling pathways that define it.

AB - Embryonic stem (ES) cells are characterized by their functional potency and capacity to self-renew in culture. Historically, ES cells have been defined as pluripotent, able to make the embryonic but not the extraembryonic lineages (such as the yolk sac and the placenta). The functional capacity of ES cells has been judged based on their ability to contribute to all somatic lineages when they are introduced into an embryo. However, a number of recent reports have suggested that under certain conditions, ES cells, and other reprogrammed cell lines, can also contribute to the extraembryonic lineages and, therefore, can be said to be totipotent. Here, we consider the molecular basis for this totipotent state, its transcriptional signature and the signalling pathways that define it.

U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2013.0549

DO - 10.1098/rstb.2013.0549

M3 - Review

C2 - 25349456

VL - 369

JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8436

IS - 1657

ER -