Genetics final- McCarthy

defining characteristics of stem cells

self renewal and ability to differentiate into 1+ cell types

totipotent

whole organism

pluripotent

all cells of body

multipotent

tissue restricted

ESC characteristics

pluripotent, derived from ICM, gives rise to all cell types, teratoma

major concerns with human ESC

ethical issues, teratoma formation, immune rejection

experimental methods used to produce pluripotent stem cells

Nuclear transfer, cell fusion, iPS cells

potential uses of iPS cells

patient-specific cell therapy, drug screening, human disease models

where can pluripotent stem cells be isolated from in a mouse

ES, EG, gPS cells

what are the Yamanaka factors used for

induce pluripotent stem cells

defining characteristics of each phase during generation of iPS cells

stochastic- probabilistic phase

deterministic- hierarchial phase

methods to confirm you successfully generated iPS cells

re-expression of pluripotency markers, self-renewal, differentiate into cells of all 3 germ layers

possible experimental strategy to circumvent some limitations when using iPS cells

trans-differentiation to avoid teratoma formation

primary function of ASC

tissue maintenance and regeneration

ASC are…

multipotent

2 phases during nuclear reprogramming

1. downregulation of lineage genes, activation of specific ESC genes, and chromatin remodeling at pluripotency genes

2. rescuscitation of autoregulatory loop, full reactivation of ESC transcriptional network, and completion of transgene silencing

therapeutic human cloning

using ESC to differentiate them into genetically-matched tissue for that patient

advantage of direct reprogramming (trans-diff) compared to induced pluripotency

cuts out middle man, no iPS cells that may give rise to tumors