An alternative pluripotent state confers interspecies chimaeric competency [Microarray]

Here we show that by simple modulation of extrinsic signaling pathways, a new class of pluripotent stem cells, referred to as intrinsic state-epiblast stem cells (IS-EPIs), could be efficiently derived from different stages of the early embryo. IS-EPIs share features of primed pluripotency yet are distinct from EpiSCs in their molecular characteristics and ability to colonize post-implantation embryos. We performed Microarray analysis and compared global gene expression pattern among amplified RNA samples from ESCs, EpiSCS, IS-EPIs as well as in vivo isolated Epiblasts. Examination of global gene expression profiles multiple pluripotent stem cell types