Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 4, 2026
07:18
A Simple Method to Identify Kinases That Regulate Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency by High-throughput Inhibitor Screening
Published on: May 12, 2017
6.9K
Pluripotency Factors Modulate Interferon Signaling in Embryonic Stem Cells
Qing Yang1, Monica Padilla-Galvez1, Skyler Uhl2
1Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|April 3, 2026
Summary
Pluripotent stem cells resist viruses by constitutively expressing antiviral genes, controlled by pluripotency factors that suppress interferon signaling. This balance preserves pluripotency while maintaining innate immunity.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Stem Cell Biology
- Virology
Background:
- Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) resist viral infections despite weak interferon responses.
- Interferon signaling is incompatible with pluripotency maintenance, but mechanisms are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the transcriptional response of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to influenza A virus.
- Elucidate the interplay between pluripotency and innate antiviral immunity.
Main Methods:
- Single-cell RNA sequencing of hESCs infected with influenza A virus.
- Functional studies involving gene depletion (e.g., SOCS1).
Main Results:
- A subpopulation of hESCs responded to infection by expressing interferons and interferon-stimulated genes.
- Interferon-responding cells showed reduced pluripotency factors and increased negative regulators (SOCS1, SPRY4).
- SOCS1 depletion enhanced hESC interferon response; pluripotency factors regulate negative regulators of interferon signaling.
Conclusions:
- Pluripotency transcriptional programs coordinate pluripotency factors, antiviral genes, and interferon signaling inhibitors.
- This regulation allows PSCs to protect against viruses while maintaining differentiation potential.
- Findings offer insights into innate immunity constraint in PSCs and inform stem cell therapies and antiviral strategies.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
2.9K
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...
2.9K
01:14Maintenance of the ES Cell State
2.8K
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...
2.8K
01:24Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming
2.3K
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...
2.3K
02:33Combinatorial Gene Control
9.9K
Combinatorial gene control is the synergistic action of several transcriptional factors to regulate the expression of a single gene. The absence of one or more of these factors may lead to a significant difference in the level of gene expression or repression.
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
9.9K
01:13Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
4.1K
4.1K
01:13Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
28.6K
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that divide and produce different types of cells. Ordinarily, cells that have differentiated into a specific cell type are post-mitotic—that is, they no longer divide. However, scientists have found a way to reprogram these mature cells so that they “de-differentiate” and return to an unspecialized, proliferative state. These cells are also pluripotent like embryonic stem cells—able to produce all cell types—and are therefore...
28.6K