MicroRna-dependent overlapping circuitries in pluripotent and cancer cells

Pluripotent stem cells hold significant potential for clinical therapies because of their capacity to generate all the adult cell types present in a body, including tissue specific somatic stem cells (SSCs). Understanding the regulatory circuitries common in pluriptotent, somatic and cancer stem cells is fundamental for evaluating the potential and the safety of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) generated for cell replacement and tissue regeneration therapies. Our aim is to identify genomic and epigenomic factors and miRNAs shared between regulating core circuitries of pluripotent, somatic stem cells and cancer stem cells. We identified miRNAs that may regulate Oct4 protein levels and it is transcriptionally regulated by Oct4 in pluripotent stem cells and describe a possible auto regulatory loops involved in pluripotent stem cells and cancer cells. Taken together our results elucidate how molecular mechanisms that regulate pluripotent stem cells and adult SSCS may contribute to cancer initiation and progression.