Sartipy Peter, Olsson Björn, Hyllner Johan, Synnergren Jane
Cellartis AB, Göteborg, Sweden.
IDrugs. 2009 Aug;12(8):492-6.
Pluripotency and cellular differentiation are intricate biological processes that are coordinately regulated by a complex set of factors and epigenetic regulators. Human pluripotent stem cell lines can be generated from surplus fertilized eggs or, as demonstrated more recently, from the reprogramming of somatic cells. Standardized culture conditions for the long-term maintenance and propagation of undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells have also been developed. An objective of current research is to increase the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell differentiation. The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells may enable the generation of large quantities of specialized cells that can be used as in vitro tools for drug development, as well as for future applications in regenerative medicine. However, most of the currently used differentiation protocols yield inefficient stem cell quantities and low purity of the final cell preparations. The discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their role as important transcriptional regulators may provide a new means of manipulating stem cell fate. This article provides an overview of some recent advancements made in the fields of both stem cell biology and miRNA.
多能性和细胞分化是复杂的生物学过程，受到一系列复杂因素和表观遗传调节因子的协同调控。人类多能干细胞系可以从多余的受精卵中产生，或者，如最近所证明的，从体细胞重编程中产生。也已经开发出用于未分化人类多能干细胞长期维持和增殖的标准化培养条件。当前研究的一个目标是加深对调节干细胞分化的分子机制的理解。人类多能干细胞的分化可能使大量特殊细胞的产生成为可能，这些细胞可作为药物开发的体外工具，以及用于再生医学的未来应用。然而，目前大多数使用的分化方案产生的干细胞数量效率低下，最终细胞制剂的纯度也很低。微小RNA（miRNA）的发现及其作为重要转录调节因子的作用可能提供一种操纵干细胞命运的新方法。本文概述了干细胞生物学和miRNA领域的一些最新进展。
