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Author

Stuart S. Levine

Other affiliations: Harvard University
Bio: Stuart S. Levine is an academic researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Chromatin & Cellular differentiation. The author has an hindex of 35, co-authored 68 publications receiving 21221 citations. Previous affiliations of Stuart S. Levine include Harvard University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
23 Sep 2005-Cell
TL;DR: Insight is provided into the transcriptional regulation of stem cells and how OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG contribute to pluripotency and self-renewal and how they collaborate to form regulatory circuitry consisting of autoregulatory and feedforward loops.

4,447 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
18 May 2006-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that PcG proteins directly repress a large cohort of developmental regulators in murine ES cells, the expression of which would otherwise promote differentiation, and dynamic repression of developmental pathways by Polycomb complexes may be required for maintaining ES cell pluripotency and plasticity during embryonic development.
Abstract: The mechanisms by which embryonic stem (ES) cells self-renew while maintaining the ability to differentiate into virtually all adult cell types are not well understood. Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are transcriptional repressors that help to maintain cellular identity during metazoan development by epigenetic modification of chromatin structure. PcG proteins have essential roles in early embryonic development and have been implicated in ES cell pluripotency, but few of their target genes are known in mammals. Here we show that PcG proteins directly repress a large cohort of developmental regulators in murine ES cells, the expression of which would otherwise promote differentiation. Using genome-wide location analysis in murine ES cells, we found that the Polycomb repressive complexes PRC1 and PRC2 co-occupied 512 genes, many of which encode transcription factors with important roles in development. All of the co-occupied genes contained modified nucleosomes (trimethylated Lys 27 on histone H3). Consistent with a causal role in gene silencing in ES cells, PcG target genes were de-repressed in cells deficient for the PRC2 component Eed, and were preferentially activated on induction of differentiation. Our results indicate that dynamic repression of developmental pathways by Polycomb complexes may be required for maintaining ES cell pluripotency and plasticity during embryonic development.

2,549 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
13 Jul 2007-Cell
TL;DR: The results of a genome-wide analysis of human cells suggest that most protein-coding genes, including most genes thought to be transcriptionally inactive, experience transcription initiation, and that transcription initiation at most genes is a general phenomenon in human cells.

1,927 citations

01 Aug 2010
TL;DR: It is reported that mediator and cohesin physically and functionally connect the enhancers and core promoters of active genes in murine embryonic stem cells.
Abstract: Transcription factors control cell-specific gene expression programs through interactions with diverse coactivators and the transcription apparatus. Gene activation may involve DNA loop formation between enhancer-bound transcription factors and the transcription apparatus at the core promoter, but this process is not well understood. Here we report that mediator and cohesin physically and functionally connect the enhancers and core promoters of active genes in murine embryonic stem cells. Mediator, a transcriptional coactivator, forms a complex with cohesin, which can form rings that connect two DNA segments. The cohesin-loading factor Nipbl is associated with mediator–cohesin complexes, providing a means to load cohesin at promoters. DNA looping is observed between the enhancers and promoters occupied by mediator and cohesin. Mediator and cohesin co-occupy different promoters in different cells, thus generating cell-type-specific DNA loops linked to the gene expression program of each cell.

1,771 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
25 Aug 2006-Cell
TL;DR: Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic or adult fibroblasts by introducing four factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4, under ES cell culture conditions is demonstrated and iPS cells, designated iPS, exhibit the morphology and growth properties of ES cells and express ES cell marker genes.

23,959 citations

28 Jul 2005
TL;DR: PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、树突状组胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作�ly.
Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1(PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员,通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

18,940 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
30 Nov 2007-Cell
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that iPS cells can be generated from adult human fibroblasts with the same four factors: Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc.

18,175 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Feb 2007-Cell
TL;DR: The surface of nucleosomes is studded with a multiplicity of modifications that can dictate the higher-order chromatin structure in which DNA is packaged and can orchestrate the ordered recruitment of enzyme complexes to manipulate DNA.

10,046 citations