Abstract
Induced pluripotency is a powerful tool to derive patient-specific stem cells. In addition, it provides a unique assay to study the interplay between transcription factors and chromatin structure. Here, we review the latest insights into chromatin dynamics that are inherent to induced pluripotency. Moreover, we compare and contrast these events with other physiological and pathological processes that involve changes in chromatin and cell state, including germ cell maturation and tumorigenesis. We propose that an integrated view of these seemingly diverse processes could provide mechanistic insights into cell fate transitions in general and might lead to new approaches in regenerative medicine and cancer treatment.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Bortvin, D. Egli, V. Pasque, B. Payer, B. Ren, X. Wei, M. Tahiliani and members of the laboratory for helpful suggestions, and B. Lowry, K. Plath and M. Stadtfeld for critical reading of the manuscript. We apologize to those colleagues whose work we could not cite due to space constraints. Support to E.A. was by HHMI and to K.H. by HHMI and NIH (R01HD058013).
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Apostolou, E., Hochedlinger, K. Chromatin dynamics during cellular reprogramming. Nature 502, 462–471 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12749
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12749
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