Critical factor (BRG1) identified for maintaining stem cell pluripotency

The ability to reprogram adult cells so they return to an undifferentiated, pluripotent state—much like an embryonic stem cell—is enabling the development of promising new cell therapies. Accelerating progress in this field will depend on identifying factors that promote pluripotency, such as the Brg1 protein described in a new study published in BioResearch Open Access.

In "BRG1 Is Required to Maintain Pluripotency of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells," Nishant Singhal and coauthors, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, and University of Münster, Germany, demonstrate the critical role the Brg1 protein plays in regulating genes that are part of a network involved in maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. This same network is the target for methods developed to reprogram adult somatic cells.

"This work further clarifies the role of the Brg1 containing BAF complex in regulating pluripotency and has important implications for all cellular reprogramming technologies," says BioResearch Open Access Editor Jane Taylor, PhD, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.