Regulation of Somatic Cell Reprogramming Through Inducible miR-302 Expression

The document reports that by inducing the expression of mir-302 to levels beyond 1.3-fold of that found in human embryonic stem (hES) cells, human hair follicle cells (hHFCs) can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. This reprogramming is achieved through the suppression of four epigenetic regulators by mir-302, which leads to global demethylation, a key process for establishing stem cell pluripotency. The study also found that silencing one of these regulators, AOF2, causes a deficiency in DNMT1, further enhancing demethylation during the reprogramming process. Conversely, adding AOF2 back into iPS cells causes demethylation to cease and induces cell differentiation. These findings suggest a novel connection between the reprogramming of zygotes and somatic cells, highlighting the role of mir-302 in both processes and potentially offering insights into improving iPS cell generation methods.