Key to Naivety

Naïve embryonic stem cells represent the very earliest stages of human development. Understanding these first events of an embryo could potentially improve cell-based therapies and IVF treatment in the future. However, to do that, researchers need to have a stable population of cells to grow in the lab. The key to maintaining a naïve stem cell identity appears to be a signalling molecule called TGF-β. By growing naïve stem cells in cell culture medium with TGF-β, protein messengers help to switch on other genes crucial to maintaining naivety. By blocking this key signalling molecule, naïve embryonic stem cells lose their characteristic pluripotency – the ability to become any cell type. Instead, they start to become more limited cell types such as trophoblast stem cells – the precursors to the cells that develop into the placenta (top row) – or more specialised early placental cells (bottom two rows, different proteins highlighted in different colours).

Written by Sophie Arthur

Sophie Arthur

former Science Communications Officer MRC LMS

Formerly a stem cell biologist, Sophie has since moved into science communication working at the MRC LMS. She also writes an award winning science and education blog Soph talks science.

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• Image from work by Anna Osnato and colleagues
• Wellcome–MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, August 2021