Ronin and caspases in embryonic stem cells: A new perspective on regulation of the pluripotent state

Abstract

Described here are recent discoveries in my laboratory which suggest that the complement of factors needed to direct ES cell pluripotency may be considerably larger than originally thought and may include proteins that act independently of the canonical factors described thus far.They also provide insight into a novel screening method that could be used to accelerate the identification and characterization of such factors. ©2008 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.