A cell state splitter and differentiation wave working-model for embryonic stem cell development and somatic cell epigenetic reprogramming

Abstract

Cell fate determination and development is a biology question that has yet to be fully answered. During embryogenesis and . in vivo stem cell differentiation, cells/tissues deploy epigenetic mechanisms to accomplish differentiation and give rise to the fully developed organism. Although a biochemistry description of cellular genetics and epigenetics is important, additional mechanisms are necessary to completely solve the problem of embryogenesis, especially differentiation and the spatiotemporal coordination of cells/tissues during morphogenesis. The cell state splitter and differentiation wave working-model was initially proposed to explain the homeostatic primary neural induction in amphibian embryos. Here the model is adopted to explain experimental findings on . in vitro embryonic stem cell, pluripotency and differentiation. Moreover, since somatic cells can be reverted to a stem-cell-like pluripotent state through the laboratory procedure called epigenetic reprogramming, erection of a cell state splitter could be a key event in their successful reprogramming. Overall, the cell state splitter working-model introduces a bistable cytoskeletal mechanism that partially explains cell fate determination and biological development. It offers an interdisciplinary framework that bridges the gap between molecular epigenetics and embryogenesis. © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.