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Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 6, 872–881 (1 November 2005) | doi:10.1038/nrm1744

Regulatory networks in embryo-derived pluripotent stem cells

Michele Boiani & Hans R. Sch|[ouml]|ler

Mammalian development requires the specification of over 200 cell types from a single totipotent cell. Investigation of the regulatory networks that are responsible for pluripotency in embryo-derived stem cells is fundamental to understanding mammalian development and realizing therapeutic potential. Extracellular signals and second messengers modulate cell-autonomous regulators such as OCT4, SOX2 and Nanog in a combinatorial complexity. Knowledge of this circuitry might reveal how to achieve phenotypic changes without the genetic manipulation of Oct4, Nanog and other toti/pluripotency-associated genes.