Human Somatic Cell Reprogramming: Does the Egg Know Best?

摘要

Somatic cell nuclear transfer offers an alternative approach to the use of exogenous transcription factors for the reprogramming of somatic cells. But is it a better way? Two groups have performed detailed molecular comparisons between human cell lines made by the two methods and report different conclusions. Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (miPSCs) can, in the right circumstances, form any cell type of the adult body. Their human counterparts, hESCs and hiPSCs, probably possess similar pluripotential attributes although the range of tests available to confirm this is circumscribed by obvious ethical constraints. Both of these human cell types have been feted for their potential to provide new, in vitro disease modeling modalities and replacement tissues for sick human patients. hiPSCs are considered by many to be superior to hESCs because autologous lines, as well as a broad range of disease-specific lines, can be prepared in an ethically uncontentious manner.