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Review
. 2010 Jul;5(4):545-55.
doi: 10.2217/rme.10.34.

miRNA in pluripotent stem cells

Uma Lakshmipathy  1 , Jonathan Davila, Ronald P Hart
Affiliations
Review

miRNA in pluripotent stem cells

Uma Lakshmipathy et al. Regen Med. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

Embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are characterized by their ability to self-renew and differentiate into any cell type. The molecular mechanism behind this process is a complex interplay between the transcriptional factors with epigenetic regulators and signaling pathways. miRNAs are an integral part of this regulatory network, with essential roles in pluripotent maintenance, proliferation and differentiation. miRNAs are a class of small noncoding RNAs that target protein-encoding mRNA to inhibit translation and protein synthesis. Discovered close to 20 years ago, miRNAs have rapidly emerged as key regulatory molecules in several critical cellular processes across species. Recent studies have begun to clarify the specific role of miRNA in regulatory circuitries that control self-renewal and pluripotency of both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. These advances suggest a critical role for miRNAs in the process of reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotent cells.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of microRNA biogenesis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatterplot of microRNA sequence frequencies (per 106 reads) in iPS or hESC taken from Goff et al. (2009) and highlighting overlapping microRNAs from Wilson et al. (2009), Chin et al. (2009) and Morin et al. (2008). MicroRNAs found to be enriched in hESC over iPS by Wilson are noted as red squares and those found to be at least 2-fold different in Goff are labeled in black. Among those microRNAs found to be ESC enriched by Chin, labeled with the character “E,” none was confirmed by Goff. However, several of those microRNAs found by Chin to be enriched in iPS (labeled “P”) are confirmed by Goff (labeled in blue to the left of the “P” character if they were at least 2-fold different). Note also the number of novel microRNAs found by Goff (black dots) that are enriched in iPS cells.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic of microRNA expression characterizing differentiation status. Representative microRNAs are shown that are characteristic of each stage, with miR-302 being strongly expressed in both ESC and iPSC, but the miR-371 cluster more highly expressed in ESC than iPSC.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Regulatory network in pluripotent stem cells. Key genes are represented in italics and microRNAs in bold.
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