Pluripotency genes of mammals: a network at work

Ranieri Cancedda^1*Maddalena Mastrogiacomo^2,3

• ¹Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale , Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy, Genova, Italy
• ²University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
• ³Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Specialità Mediche (DIMI), Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy, Genova, Italy

Pluripotency, i.e., the ability to differentiate into cells of all three germ layers, is a transientstate of early embryonic cells. In mammals, during progression from pre-implantation topost-implantation stage, pluripotent cells undergo different state transitions characterized bychanges in gene expression and development potential. These developmental states include:(i) a naive pluripotency (pre-implantation embryonic stem cells, or ESCs), (ii) anintermediate condition (formative state), and (iii) a primed pluripotency (late postimplantationESCs derived from epiblasts also named EpiSCs). The transitions are regulatedby an interconnected network of pluripotency-related genes. Transcription of genes such asOct4, Sox2, and Nanog is crucial for obtaining and maintaining pluripotency. These threefactors form an autoregulatory loop by binding to each other's promoters to activate theirtranscription. Other factors play a significant ancillary role in the transcription factor networkpreserving cell pluripotency. In the review, we will also mention some of the more relevantcytokines, molecules, signaling pathways, and epigenetic modifications that induce andcontrol pluripotency gene expression. The main goal of this review is to bridge the gapbetween the fields of genetics and stem cell biology and to set the ground for the applicationof this knowledge to the development of strategies and drugs to be used in a clinicalenvironment.