Induced pluripotent stem(iPS) cells are derived from somatic cells by ectopic expression of few transcription factors.Like embryonic stem(ES) cells,iPS cells are able to self-renew indefinitely and to differentiate into all types of cells in the body.iPS cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine,because iPS cells circumvent not only immunological rejection but also ethical issues.Since the first report on the derivation of iPS cells in 2006,many laboratories all over the world started research on iPS cells and have made significant progress.This paper reviews recent progress in iPS cell research,including the methods to generate iPS cells,the molecular mechanism of reprogramming in the formation of iPS cells,and the potential applications of iPS cells in cell replacement therapy.Current problems that need to be addressed and the prospects for iPS research are also discussed.
CHEN LingYi & Liu Lin Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials of Ministry of Education,College of Life Sciences,Nankai University,Tianjin 300071,China
Although the somatic cell nuclear transfer(SCNT) technique has been used extensively for cloning and generating transgenic pigs,the cloning efficiency is still very low.It has been proposed that the low efficiency of this technique is the result of incomplete epigenetic reprogramming and abnormal gene expression during early embryonic development.In this study,we investigate the effect of Scriptaid,a low-toxicity histone deacetylase inhibitor,on the developmental competence of porcine SCNT embryos.We found that treating SCNT embryos with 500 nmol/L Scriptaid for 15 h after activation significantly enhanced the blastocyst formation rate(27.7%) compared with the untreated group(control)(12.2%,P<0.05).Using an immunofluorescence technique to measure the average fluorescence intensity,we also found that treating SCNT embryos with Scriptaid increased the level of histone acetylation on histone H3 at lysine 14(acH3K14).Furthermore,treating embryos with Scriptaid increased the expression level of three genes that play important roles during embryonic development(Oct4,Klf4 at the blastocyst stage and Nanog at the 4-cell stage).Moreover,the expression level of the apoptosis-related gene Caspase-3 was significantly lower in the Scriptaid-treated SCNT embryos compared with the control SCNT embryos at the 4-cell and blastocyst stages.In conclusion,these results indicate that Scriptaid treatment improves the development and nuclear reprogramming of porcine SCNT embryos.
