The primitive growth factor NME7AB induces mitochondrially active naïve-like pluripotent stem cells

Abstract Naive pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) display a distinctive phenotype when compared to their “primed” counterparts, including, but not limited to, increased potency to differentiate and more robust mitochondrial respiration. The cultivation and maintenance of naive PSCs have been notoriously challenging, requiring the use of complex cytokine cocktails. NME7AB is a newly discovered embryonic stem cell growth factor that is expressed exclusively in the first few days of human blastocyst development. It has been previously reported that growing primed induced PSCs (iPSCs) in bFGF-depleted medium with NME7AB as the only added growth factor facilitates the regression of these cells to their naive state. Here, we confirm this regression by demonstrating the reactivation of mitochondrial function in the induced naive-like PSCs and increased ATP production in these cells, as compared to that in primed iPSCs.