Pluripotent Stem Cells: Small Molecules and Peptides

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of pre-implantation embryos. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be generated by somatic cell reprogramming following the exogenous expression of specific transcription factors (Oct-3/4, KLF4, SOX2, and c-Myc). These cell types are capable of unlimited, undifferentiated proliferation in vitro and still maintain the capacity to differentiate into a wide variety of somatic cells. In this capacity, ...