Formative Pluripotency

演題

Formative Pluripotency

講演者

Dr. Masaki Kinoshita (Assistant Professor, Stem Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, Nottingham University, UK)

使用言語

English

日時

2026年3月11日(水曜日) 15：30～16：30

場所

L12

内容

Naïve and primed pluripotency denote the characteristic states of embryonic stem cells in mouse and human, respectively. Pluripotency first emerges in a naïve state during the pre-implantation stage and transitions to a primed state by the completion of gastrulation. This bi-phasic model accounts well for many of the differences observed between mouse and human stem cells in culture; however, it is overly simplified from a developmental perspective, as it only represents the starting and end points of the pluripotent spectrum. To address this, we introduced the formative phase as an intermediate state that bridges naïve and primed pluripotency. We recently identified and established formative stem (FS) cells from both mouse and human embryos. In the mouse, naïve ES cells possess broad developmental potential, yet they do not respond directly to differentiation cues. Instead, mES cells must exit the naïve state and enter the formative phase in order to become competent to respond to inductive signals. Conversely, primed EpiSCs have already lost germline competency. Mouse FS cells occupy the intermediate window: they exhibit direct differentiation potential toward all three germ layer derivatives as well as germline cells, and they retain the ability to contribute to blastocyst chimeras. We found these three pluripotent states differ in growth factor requirements, gene regulatory networks, and chromatin landscapes. Conventional primed human ES cells are known to exhibit variability in differentiation capacity between cell lines. Although human naïve pluripotent stem cells have recently been established, conventional primed hES cells remain the most widely used form in biomedical research and for future clinical applications. If all human ES cells could be rendered into a state exhibiting formative features, this would significantly accelerate both fundamental studies and translational progress. Building on our insights from the mouse system, we are now extending our work to the human system to characterise hFS cells and would welcome the opportunity to discuss our findings to date.

問合せ先

Developmental Biomedical Science
Sasai Noriaki (noriakisasai@bs.naist.jp)