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. 2015 Jun;2(2):217-225.
doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwv009.

Cell totipotency: molecular features, induction, and maintenance

Falong Lu  1 , Yi Zhang  2
Affiliations

Cell totipotency: molecular features, induction, and maintenance

Falong Lu et al. Natl Sci Rev. 2015 Jun.

Abstract

In mammals, pluripotent stem cells can give rise to every cell type of embryonic lineage, and hold great potential in regenerative medicine and disease modeling. Guided by the mechanism underlying pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells have been successfully induced through manipulating the transcriptional and epigenetic networks of various differentiated cell types. However, the factors that confer totipotency, the ability to give rise to cells in both embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages, still remain poorly understood. It is currently unknown whether totipotency can be induced and maintained in vitro. In this review, we summarize the current progress in the field, with the aim of providing a foundation for understanding the mechanisms that regulate totipotency.

Keywords: Embryonic stem cell; Epigenetics; Pluripotency; Reprogramming; Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT); Totipotency.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Relationship between development, cell potency and reprogramming
Development of a mouse begins with fertilization. 1-cell zygotes and blastomeres of 2-cell embryos are totipotent. The inner cell mass (ICM) cells in blastocyst are pluripotent. The transition from totipotent to pluripotent cells takes place between the 4-cell to morula stage. During post-implantation development, some tissue-specific stem cells or progenitor cells remain multipotent, while the majority develop to unipotent and terminally differentiated cells. Differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to totipotent cells through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or to pluripotent cells through forced expression of pluripotency-associated master transcription factors (induced pluripotency). Diagrams of the relative abundance of long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1), intracisternal A-particle (IAP), and murine endogenous retrovirus with leucine tRNA primer (MuERV-L) repeats are shown at the bottom.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Relationship and comparison between ESCs and 2C-like cells
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can cycle in and out of a transient 2-cell embryo-like (2C-like) state. The population of 2C-like cells at a given time point are less than 0.5% under standard ESC culture conditions. The known regulators of the 2C-like state are listed, all of which are repressors. The different cellular and molecular features of 2C-like cells and ESCs are listed at the bottom.
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