Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Aug 26, 2015; 7(7): 992-998
Published online Aug 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i7.992
Signaling involved in stem cell reprogramming and differentiation
Shihori Tanabe
Shihori Tanabe, National Institute of Health Sciences, Tokyo 158-8501, Japan
Author contributions: Tanabe S is the sole contributor to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares that no conflict of interest exists.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Shihori Tanabe, PhD, Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Health Sciences, 1-18-1, Kami-yoga, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-8501, Japan. stanabe@nihs.go.jp
Telephone: +81-3-37001141 Fax: +81-3-37076950
Received: April 21, 2015
Peer-review started: April 24, 2015
First decision: May 13, 2015
Revised: May 29, 2015
Accepted: June 18, 2015
Article in press: June 19, 2015
Published online: August 26, 2015
Abstract

Stem cell differentiation is regulated by multiple signaling events. Recent technical advances have revealed that differentiated cells can be reprogrammed into stem cells. The signals involved in stem cell programming are of major interest in stem cell research. The signaling mechanisms involved in regulating stem cell reprogramming and differentiation are the subject of intense study in the field of life sciences. In this review, the molecular interactions and signaling pathways related to stem cell differentiation are discussed.

Keywords: Stem cell, Signaling, Differentiation, Gene, Genome, Reprogramming

Core tip: Signals in stem cell are regulated both genetically and epigenetically by many molecules. The programming of stem cell signaling is an important aspect of understanding stem cell phenotype transitions and functions. The differentiation process as well as intra- and inter-cellular signaling of stem cells is described in this article. The epigenetic regulation of these cells is also discussed.