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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Monitoring Colony-level Effects of Sublethal Pesticide Exposure on Honey Bees
Published on: November 15, 2017
Honey bee Royalactin unlocks conserved pluripotency pathway in mammals
Derrick C Wan1,2, Stefanie L Morgan1,3, Andrew L Spencley1
1Department of Dermatology, Program in Epithelial Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Abstract:
Royal jelly is the queen-maker for the honey bee Apis mellifera, and has cross-species effects on longevity, fertility, and regeneration in mammals. Despite this knowledge, how royal jelly or its components exert their myriad effects has remained poorly understood. Using mouse embryonic stem cells as a platform, here we report that through its major protein component Royalactin, royal jelly can maintain pluripotency by activating a ground-state pluripotency-like gene network. We further identify Regina, a mammalian structural analog of Royalactin that also induces a naive-like state in mouse embryonic stem cells. This reveals an important innate program for stem cell self-renewal with broad implications in understanding the molecular regulation of stem cell fate across species.
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