The origin and identity of embryonic stem cells英文文献.pdfVIP

HYPOTHESIS 3 Development 138, 3-8 (2011) doi:10.1242/dev.050831 © 2011. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd The origin and identity of embryonic stem cells Jennifer Nichols1,2,* and Austin Smith1,3 Summary cells can be derived in explant cultures via two routes: directly Embryonic stem (ES) cells are used extensively in biomedical from the newly formed epiblast, as it transits the state of naïve research and as a model with which to study early mammalian pluripotency; or during the specification of PGCs in culture when development, but their exact origin has been subject to much cells undergo epigenetic reprogramming, resulting in their re- debate. They are routinely derived from pre-implantation acquisition of pluripotency (Fig. 1). embryos, but it has been suggested that the cells that give rise to ES cells might arise from epiblast cells that are already Emergence of naïve pluripotency predisposed to a primordial germ cell (PGC) fate, which then Fertilisation in mammals produces a zygote that will give rise to progress to ES cell status via the PGC lineage. Based on recent the entire embryo and to the extra-embryonic lineages. Equipotent findings, we propose here that ES cells can be derived directly blastomeres are produced from the zygote during several rounds of from early epiblast cells and that ES cells might arise via two cleavage divisions, but by the blastocyst stage, two distinct lineages different routes that are dictated by their culture conditions. have emerged th