Fine-tuning of dual-SMAD inhibition to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into neural crest stem cells.

Objectives: The derivation of neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has been commonly induced by WNT activation in combination with dual-SMAD inhibition. In this study, by fine-tuning BMP signalling in the conventional dual-SMAD inhibition, we sought to generate large numbers of NCSCs without WNT activation.

Materials And Methods: In the absence of WNT activation, we modulated the level of BMP signalling in the dual-SMAD inhibition system to identify conditions that efficiently drove the differentiation of hPSCs into NCSCs.

Glis family proteins are differentially implicated in the cellular reprogramming of human somatic cells.

The ground-breaking discovery of the reprogramming of somatic cells into pluripotent cells, termed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), was accomplished by delivering 4 transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, into fibroblasts. Since then, several efforts have attempted to unveil other factors that are directly implicated in or might enhance reprogramming. Importantly, a number of transcription factors are reported to retain reprogramming activity.