The Epigenetics of Nuclear Reprogramming to Pluripotency
Theodore P. Rasmussen
from: Epigenetics: Current Research and Emerging Trends (Edited by: Brian P. Chadwick). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2015) Pages: 255-270.
Abstract
Recent exciting advances in cellular biology prove that it is possible to change virtually any cell type into another cell type. This is possible due to reprogramming, whereby the epigenome and transcriptome of cells is coaxed to assume the identity of another type of cell, often a pluripotent cell. In all cases, profound epigenetic changes are associated with successful reprogramming. This chapter discusses natural and artificial means of reprogramming, the chromatin-based mechanisms involved, and the problem of incomplete reprogramming and epigenetic memory. In particular, natural processes in which reprogramming is central are considered, including fertilization, preimplantation development, and reprogramming in the germ line. Artificially-induced reprogramming is also considered, to include somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning), pluripotent stem cell derivation, fusion-mediated reprogramming, and the production of induced pluripotent stem cells. Many of these methods suffer from the problem of somatic cell epigenetic memory, and this is also considered read more ...
