Histone chaperone ASF1A is required for maintenance of pluripotency and cellular reprogramming

Unfertilized oocytes have the intrinsic capacity to remodel sperm and the nuclei of somatic cells. The discoveries that cells can change their phenotype from differentiated to embryonic state using oocytes or specific transcription factors have been recognized as two major breakthroughs in the biome...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2014-08, Vol.345 (6198), p.822-825
Main Authors: Gonzalez-Muñoz, Elena, Arboleda-Estudillo, Yohanna, Otu, Hasan H., Cibelli, Jose B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Cell division
Cellular
Cellular biology
Eggs
Fibroblasts
Gene expression
Histones
Maintenance
Proteins
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Summary:Unfertilized oocytes have the intrinsic capacity to remodel sperm and the nuclei of somatic cells. The discoveries that cells can change their phenotype from differentiated to embryonic state using oocytes or specific transcription factors have been recognized as two major breakthroughs in the biomedical field. Here, we show that ASF1A, a histone-remodeling chaperone specifically enriched in the metaphase II human oocyte, is necessary for reprogramming of human adult dermal fibroblasts (hADFs) into undifferentiated induced pluripotent stem cell. We also show that overexpression of just ASF1A and OCT4 in hADFs exposed to the oocyte-specific paracrine growth factor GDF9 can reprogram hADFs into pluripotent cells. Our Report underscores the importance of studying the unfertilized MII oocyte as a means to understand the molecular pathways governing somatic cell reprogramming.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1254745