Special Issue "Natural and Induced Pluripotency in Stem Cells"

Guest Editor
Dr. Paolo Cinelli
Institute of Laboratory Animal Science, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Website: http://www.ltk.uzh.ch/de/
E-Mail:
Interests: transcriptomics; microarrays; gene expression analysis; genotyping; molecular genetics; mouse genetics; transgenic technologies; embryonic stem cells; pluripotency

Dear Colleagues,

Cellular pluripotency is one of the most fascinating and promising research fields in biomedical research. The recent discovery that ordinary cells following the introduction of a small number of genes can acquire stem cell behaviors opens a new door for stem cell research and its application to therapeutic discovery. The exhaustive understanding of the molecular pathways controlling pluripotency and cellular reprogramming is essential for the development of effective and safe approaches to reprogram somatic cells towards a pluripotent state.
This Special Issue of the Journal Genes aims at presenting recent research and developments on this very exciting topic. Reviews and original papers presenting data on embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells are welcome for this Special Issue. Special interest will be given to reports on genes and/or pathways involved in the establishment and maintenance of natural and acquired pluripotency, in controlling the global and local chromatin organization in pluripotent cells, and in triggering reprogramming in somatic and adult stem cells.

Dr. Paolo Cinelli
Guest Editor

Submission Information

All manuscripts should be submitted to genes@mdpi.org with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. For the first couple of issues, to be published in 2010, the Article Processing Charges (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• embryonic stem cells
• induced pluripotent stem cells
• self renewal
• cell differentiation
• reprogramming
• gene expression regulation
• microRNAs
• epigenetics
• DNA methylation

Title: Different Techniques for the Derivation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Authors: Kazim H. Narsinh and Joseph C. Wu; E-Mail: kazimn@stanford.edu
Abstract: The successful derivation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) by de-differentiation of somatic cells offers significant potential to overcome obstacles in the field of regenerative medicine. However, many questions remain regarding the optimal starting materials and methods to enable safe, efficient derivation of hiPSCs suitable for cellular transplantation. Initial reprogramming experiments were carried out using lentiviral or retroviral gene delivery methods. However, various non-viral methods that avoid permanent and random transgene insertion have since emerged as alternatives. These include transient DNA transfection approaches using transposons or minicircle plasmids, as well as protein transduction approaches. In addition, several small molecules have been found to significantly augment iPSC derivation efficiency, allowing the use of a smaller number of genes during pluripotency induction. Here, we review these various methods for the derivation of iPSCs with a focus on their ultimate clinical feasibility.