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Transcriptional Regulatory Mechanisms That Govern Embryonic Stem Cell Fate

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Embryonic Stem Cell Immunobiology

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1029))

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are defined by their simultaneous capacity for limitless self-renewal and the ability to specify cells borne of all germ layers. The regulation of ESC pluripotency is governed by a set of core transcription factors that regulate transcription by interfacing with nuclear proteins that include the RNA polymerase II core transcriptional machinery, histone modification enzymes, and chromatin remodeling protein complexes. The growing adoption of systems biological approaches used in stem cell biology over last few years has contributed significantly to our understanding of pluripotency. Multilayered approaches coupling transcriptome profiling and proteomics (Nanog-, Oct4-, and Sox2-centered protein interaction networks or “interactomes”) with transcription factor chromatin occupancy and epigenetic footprint measurements have enabled a more comprehensive understanding of ESC pluripotency and self-renewal. Together with the genetic and biochemical characterization of promising pluripotency modifying proteins, these systems biological approaches will continue to clarify the molecular underpinnings of the ESC state. This will most certainly contribute to the improvement of current methodologies for the derivation of pluripotent cells from adult tissues.

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Acknowledgment

Funding for this work was supported in part by a March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Scholar Award grant (5-FY10-45).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Immunology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Satyabrata Das & Dana Levasseur

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  1. Satyabrata Das
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  2. Dana Levasseur
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Internal Medicine, Div. Allergy & Immunology, University of Iowa, Hawkins Drive 200, Iowa City, 52242, Iowa, USA

    Nicholas Zavazava

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Das, S., Levasseur, D. (2013). Transcriptional Regulatory Mechanisms That Govern Embryonic Stem Cell Fate. In: Zavazava, N. (eds) Embryonic Stem Cell Immunobiology. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1029. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-478-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-478-4_13

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-62703-477-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-62703-478-4

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