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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Essay

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Methods of Production, Characterization and Applications to Medicine

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Methods of Production, Characterization and Applications to Medicine
Introduction
By definition, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are somatic cells with preprogrammed features (Kamath et al. 2017). In essence, they are often modified to mimic embryonic stem cells through the expression of ectopic factors linked to gene transcription. Today, the production and characterization of iPSCs is poised to be one of the most significant hallmarks in biological stem cell research. The iPSCs are known to differentiate into a variety of cell types via indefinite …show more content…

In this study, expression of the transcription factor reduced while that of the E-cadherin cell receptor was up-regulated. The events were commensurate with the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) process, which is the converse of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phase of embryonic development. Reprogramming embodies the transient expression of OSKM transcription factors linked to pluripotency in somatic cells. These factors include c-Myc or Myc, KLF4, SOX2, and Octa4 (Li et al. 2017, p.6). They are critical to clinical translation of cell reprogramming in vivo. Their colonies resemble ESCs phenotypically, molecularly, and morphologically when compacted and placed on a culture dish. Initially, Chen et al. (2013, p.1316) hypothesized that the process of iPSC programming can be enhanced by small molecules that inhibit EMT. Indeed, this hypothesis was confirmed upon establishing that the speed and efficiency of iPSC programming in human cells can be enhanced by an MET promoter, SB431542, which targets the signaling pathway of the transforming growth factor-β. This study has pointed out the role of β-receptor signaling in the stabilization of E-cadherin and programming of iPSCs. A subsequent study by Li and Tariq (2012) also echoed the role of E-cadherin in the induction of pluripotent stem cells where luteolin and apigenin molecules were used to up-regulate its expression. Cell programming to iPSCs can also be improved by other small molecule

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