Incomplete DNA methylation underlies a transcriptional memory of somatic cells in human iPS cells

ABSTRACT: Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are remarkably similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells, but recent reports indicate that there may be important differences between them. We carried out a systematic comparison of human iPS cells generated from hepatocytes (representative of endoderm), skin fibroblasts (mesoderm) and melanocytes (ectoderm). All low-passage iPS cells analysed retain a transcriptional memory of the original cells. The persistent expression of somatic genes can be partially explained by incomplete promoter DNA methylation. This epigenetic mechanism underlies a robust form of memory that can be found in iPS cells generated by multiple laboratories using different methods, including RNA transfection. Incompletely silenced genes tend to be isolated from other genes that ar

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Jun Song 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-23034 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress