PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Leehee Weinberger AU - Muneef Ayyash AU - Noa Novershtern AU - Jacob H. Hanna TI - Understanding stem cell states: naïve to primed pluripotency in rodents and humans AID - 10.1101/030676 DP - 2015 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 030676 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/11/06/030676.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/11/06/030676.full AB - The molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways that regulate the in vitro preservation of distinct pluripotent stem cell configurations, and their induction in somatic cells via direct reprogramming approaches, continue to constitute a highly exciting area of research. In this Review, we provide an integrative synthesis on recent discoveries related to isolating unique naïve and primed pluripotent stem cell states with altered functional and molecular characteristics, and from different species. We overview pathways underlying pluripotent state transitions and interconversion in vitro and in vivo. We conclude by highlighting unresolved key questions, future directions and potential novel applications of such pluripotent cell states.