Progress in Reprogramming of Somatic Cells into Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract: As a powerful tool， embryonic stem cells can not only answer the developmental biology questions concerning early stage developments of mammalian embryos， cell differentiation， regulation of gene expression， but also used in research of evaluating new drugs and cell therapy. However， the scarcity of donated human oocytes available for scientific research impedes the study on human embryonic stem cells. Seeking the substitutes for embryonic stem cells may be an ideal way to circumvent this problem. In this review， the methods of inducing mammalian somatic cells to pluripotent states were summarized. This article focused on advances in research of induction of pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells (designated as iPS cells) by defined factors， and elaborated the functions of such factors during the process. The selection strategies and identification of iPS cells as well as its prospects of research and applications were also briefly introduced.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2008.05.0001