Although induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been generated from mouse and human somatic cells by ectopic expression of four transcription factors, the expression of one of these four, Oct4, is sufficient to directly reprogram adult mouse neural stem cells to iPS cells. The generation of one-factor human iPS cells from human fetal neural stem cells by ectopic expression of OCT4 alone is now reported, demonstrating that OCT4 is sufficient to reprogram human neural stem cells to pluripotency.
- Jeong Beom Kim
- Boris Greber
- Hans R. Schöler
