Common Pluripotency Markers

Pluripotency is the ability of a cell to differentiate into any cell type. The ability to induce pluripotency in cells from an individual provides a valuable tool for developmental biology studies and disease research studies, and could ultimately be applied to personalized stem cell therapy. Cell Signaling Technology (CST) offers a comprehensive line of stem cell and lineage markers. CST™ antibodies are extensively validated in relevant research applications by our team of in-house experts and validation data is presented online for each product. And our technical support scientists are available for consultation, just in case you need a partner at the bench.

Reprogramming Factors Key: O—Oct4, K—Klf4, S—Sox2, M—c-Myc, E—Esrrb, Nr—Nr5a2, C—C/EBPα, L—Lin28, N—Nanog

Species	Cell Type	Reprogramming Factors	Reference
Mouse	Fibroblasts	OKSM, OKS, OSE, KSNr	Takahashi & Yamanaka 2006
	Mature B & T cells	OKSMC, OKSM	Hanna et al. 2008; Eminli et al. 2009
	Myeloid progenitors	OKSM	Eminli et al. 2009
	Hematopoietic stem cells	OKSM	Eminli et al. 2009
	Adipose-derived stem cells	OKSM	Sugii et al. 2010
	Dermal Papilla	OKM, OK	Tsai et al. 2010
	Satellite cells	OKSM	Tan et al. 2011
	Pancreatic β-cells	OKSM	Stadtfeld et al. 2008
	Hepatic endoderm	OKS	Aoi et al. 2008
	Neural stem cells	OK	Kim et al. 2008; Kim et al. 2009
	Melanocytes	OKM	Utikal et al. 2009
Human	Fibroblasts	OKSM, OSLN, OKS	Takahashi et al. 2007; Yu et al. 2007; Nakagawa et al. 2008
	Mobilized peripheral blood	OKSM	Loh et al. 2009
	Cord blood endothelia	OSLN	Haase et al. 2009
	Cord blood stem cells	OKSM, OS	Eminli et al. 2009; Giorgetti et al. 2009
	Adipose-derived stem cells	OKSM, OKS	Sugii et al. 2010; Aoki et al. 2010
	Hepatocytes	OKSM	Liu et al. 2010
	Keratinocytes	OKSM, OKS	Aasen et al. 2008
	Neural stem cells	O	Kim et al. 2009
	Pancreatic β-cells	OKSM	Bar-Nur et al. 2011
	Amniotic cells	OKSM, OSN	Li et al. 2009; Zhao et al. 2010

Table adapted from Stadtfeld and Hochedlinger 2011.

Immunofluorescent analysis of mouse iPS Cells

Adapted from Walsh, Becker and Hochedlinger 2011.

Oct-4: Transcription factor expressed in undifferentiated pluripotent embryonic stem cells and germ cells during normal development. Together with Sox2 and Nanog, is necessary for the maintenance of pluripotent potential.
Sox2: Transcription factor expressed in undifferentiated pluripotent embryonic stem cells and germ cells during development. Together with Oct-4 and Nanog, is necessary for the maintenance of pluripotent potential.
Nanog: Homeodomain-containing transcription factor essential for maintenance of pluripotency and self renewal in embryonic stem cells. Expression is controlled by a network of factors including Sox2 and the key pluripotency regulator Oct-4.
KLF4: Zinc-finger-containing transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4); used for generation of human and mouse ES cells.
TRA-1-60/TRA-1-81/TRA-2-54: Present on the surface of human stem, teratocarcinoma, and embryonic germ cells.
SSEA1: Lactoseries oligosaccharide expressed on the surface of mouse embryonic carcinoma, embryonic stem, and germ cells, but only expressed on human germ cells. Expression of SSEA1 on human cells increases upon differentiation, while differentiation of mouse cells leads to decreased expression.
SSEA4: Glycolipid carbohydrate expressed on the surface of human teratocarcinoma stem, embryonic germ, and embryonic stem cells. Expression of human SSEA4 decreases following differentiation of human embryonic carcinoma cells, but increases following differentiation in mouse cells.