Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
11:38
RNA-based Reprogramming of Human Primary Fibroblasts into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Published on: November 26, 2018
How microRNAs facilitate reprogramming to pluripotency
Frederick Anokye-Danso1, Melinda Snitow, Edward E Morrisey
1Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Journal of Cell Science
|October 19, 2012
Summary
MicroRNAs can now promote pluripotent reprogramming, offering a new therapeutic avenue. These findings advance regenerative biology by enabling efficient patient-specific cell generation.
Area of Science:
- Regenerative Biology
- Stem Cell Research
- Epigenetics
Background:
- Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology revolutionized regenerative medicine by enabling the generation of patient-specific cells without embryonic derivation.
- Transcription factors are key drivers of cellular reprogramming, but optimizing efficiency remains a challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the role of microRNAs in pluripotent reprogramming.
- To investigate if microRNAs can substitute for transcription factors in reprogramming.
- To assess the therapeutic potential of microRNAs in cell reprogramming.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent findings on microRNA-mediated reprogramming.
- Analysis of studies demonstrating microRNA's role alongside transcription factors.
- Examination of microRNA's capacity to replace transcription factors.
Main Results:
- MicroRNAs significantly promote pluripotent reprogramming.
- In certain contexts, microRNAs can fully substitute for pluripotency transcription factors.
- MicroRNAs demonstrate potential as small-molecule therapeutics for reprogramming.
Conclusions:
- MicroRNAs represent a novel and potent tool for pluripotent stem cell generation.
- The findings open new therapeutic possibilities for regenerative medicine and cell lineage reprogramming.
- MicroRNA-based therapeutics could enhance the efficiency and applicability of reprogramming technologies.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for this...
01:32Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
Chromatin modification alters gene expression; therefore, scientists can add histone-modifying enzymes, histone variants, and chromatin remodeling complexes to somatic cells to aid reprogramming into pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
01:24Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for injury repair.
01:14Maintenance of the ES Cell State
The cells of the blastocyst inner cell mass only remain pluripotent for a short time. This state of pluripotency and self-renewal can be maintained in embryonic stem (ES) cell culture by adding specific chemicals or growth factors to ensure the cells can continue dividing and later differentiate into different cell types. In some cases, the cells are grown on a feeder layer of differentiated cells, which provides the growth factors and extracellular matrix components necessary for stem cell...
01:14Introduction to Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is the process of switching gene expression of one cell type to that of another cell type, usually from a differentiated cell state to an undifferentiated cell state. Differentiation occurs during processes such as development and morphogenesis, tissue regeneration, and malignancy. Cells can also be artificially induced to reprogram their gene expression by techniques such as nuclear transfer, induced pluripotency, and cell fusion. Such techniques have many applications in...
01:22MicroRNAs
MicroRNA (miRNA) are short, regulatory RNA transcribed from introns (non-coding regions of a gene) or intergenic regions (stretches of DNA present between genes). Several processing steps are required to form biologically active, mature miRNA. The initial transcript, called primary miRNA (pri-mRNA), base-pairs with itself, forming a stem-loop structure. Within the nucleus, an endonuclease enzyme, called Drosha, shortens the stem-loop structure into hairpin-shaped pre-miRNA. After the pre-miRNA...