Histone chaperone ASF1A is required for maintenance of pluripotency and cellular reprogramming

Abstract

Factor in oocyte assists reprogramming Unfertilized eggs contain components that can dedifferentiate other cells that have gone down the path toward a specific cell fate. Gonzalez-Muñoz et al. show that the protein-folding factor ASF1A facilitates this reprogramming event and it acts at a particular phase of germ cell division termed metaphase II. ASF1A helps turn differentiated cells such as human adult dermal fibroblasts into undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells. Science , this issue p. 822