Glycans define the stemness of naïve and primed pluripotent stem cells

Cell surface glycans are tissue-specific and developmentally regulated. They function as essential modulators in cell-cell interactions, cell-extracellular matrix interactions, and ligand-receptor interactions, binding to various ligands, including Wnt, fibroblast growth factors, and bone morphogenetic proteins. Embryonic stem (ES) cells, originally derived from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, have the essential characteristics of pluripotency and self-renewal. Recently, it has been proposed that mouse and human conventional ES cells are present in different developmental stages, namely pre-implantation blastocyst and post-implantation blastocyst stages, also called the naïve state and the primed state, respectively. They therefore require different extrinsic signals for the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency, and also appear to require different surface glycans. Understanding of molecular mechanisms involving glycans in self-renewal and pluripotency of ES cells is increasingly important for potential clinical applications, as well as for basic research. This review focuses on the roles of glycans in the two different states of pluripotent stem cells, namely the naïve state and the primed state, and the transition between these two states.