Metabolism of pluripotent stem cells

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recently, growing attention has been directed toward stem cell metabolism, with the key observation that metabolism not only fuels the proper functioning of stem cells but also regulates the fate of these cells. There seems to be a clear link between the self-renewal of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), in which cells proliferate indefinitely without differentiation, and the activity of specific metabolic pathways. The unique metabolism in PSCs plays an important role in maintaining pluripotency by regulating signaling pathways and resetting the epigenome.

OBJECTIVE: To review the most recent publications concerning the metabolism of pluripotent stem cells and the role of metabolism in PSC self-renewal and differentiation.

METHODS: A systematic literature search related to the metabolism of PSCs was conducted in databases including Medline, Embase, and Web of Science. The search was performed without language restrictions on all papers published before May 2016. The following keywords were used: “metabolism” combined with either “embryonic stem cell” or “epiblast stem cell.”

RESULTS: Hundreds of papers focusing specifically on the metabolism of pluripotent stem cells were uncovered and summarized.

CONCLUSION: Identifying the specific metabolic pathways involved in pluripotency maintenance is crucial for progress in the field of developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Additionally, better understanding of the metabolism in PSCs will facilitate the derivation and maintenance of authentic PSCs from species other than mouse, rat, and human.

Keywords

metabolism / pluripotent stem cells / pluripotency / epigenetics

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Acknowledgements

The design of Fig. 1 was aided by materials from ScienceSlides (http://www.visiscience.com). The research in Ying laboratory was supported by National Institutes of Health (R01 OD010926), California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) New Faculty Award II (RN2-00938), CIRM Scientific Excellence through Exploration and Development (SEED) Grant (RS1-00327), and Chen Yong Foundation of the Zhongmei Group.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Liang Hu, Edward Trope, and Qi-Long Ying declare that they have no conflict of interest. This manuscript is a review article and does not involve a research protocol requiring approval by the relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.

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