Lemischka and colleagues examine the effects of transient Nanog downregulation on the components of the pluripotent transcriptional regulatory network using single-cell gene expression analysis and modelling approaches. They observe that the initial changes induced by loss of Nanog are stochastic and reversible upon Nanog restoration, owing to the presence of feedback loops in the pluripotency network. Prolonged loss of Nanog compromises these feedback loops and reversion to pluripotency cannot be achieved upon Nanog restoration.
- Ben D. MacArthur
- Ana Sevilla
- Ihor R. Lemischka