Molecular Basis of Mammalian Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency and Self-Renewal

Mammalian embryonic stem cells (ESC) have a number of specific properties that make them a unique object of fundamental and applied studies. In culture, ESC can remain in an infinitely undifferentiated state and differentiate into descendants of all three germ layers – ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm – that is, they can potentially produce more than 200 cell types comprising the body of an adult mammal. These properties of ESC are refered to as self-renewal and pluripotency. In this review, the basic signal pathways implicated in the maintenance of ESC pluripotency are considered. The major genes comprising a subsystem of “internal regulators of pluripotency,” their protein products and regulators, are characterized, and interaction with other factors is described as well. The role of epigenetic mechanisms and microRNAs in the system of ESC self-renewal and pluripotency, as well as the relationship between pluripotency and X-chromosome inactivation in female mammals, is discussed.