TGF-β Signaling in Stem Cell Regulation

The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) family of cytokines, including TGF-β, bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs), and activin/nodal, is a group of crucial morphogens in embryonic development, and plays key roles in modulating stem/progenitor cell fate. TGF-β signaling is essential in maintaining the pluripotency of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and its modulation can direct lineage-specific differentiation. Recent studies also demonstrate TGF-β signaling negatively regulates reprogramming and inhibition of TGF-β signaling can enhance reprogramming through facilitating mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). This chapter introduces methods of modulating somatic cell reprogramming to iPSCs and neural induction from hPSCs through modulating TGF-β signaling by chemical approaches.