Muse cells are a novel population of nontumorigenic pluripotent stem cells, highly resistant to cellular stress. These cells are present\nin every connective tissue and intrinsically express pluripotent stemmarkers such asNanog,Oct3/4, Sox2, and TRA1-60.Muse cells\nare able to differentiate into cells from all three embryonic germ layers both spontaneously and under media-specific induction.\nUnlike ESCs and iPSCs, Muse cells exhibit low telomerase activity and asymmetric division and do not undergo tumorigenesis or\nteratoma formation when transplanted into a host organism. Muse cells have a high capacity for homing into damaged tissue and\nspontaneous differentiation into cells of compatible tissue, leading to tissue repair and functional restoration.The ability of Muse\ncells to restore tissue function may demonstrate the role of Muse cells in a highly conserved cellular mechanism related to cell\nsurvival and regeneration, in response to cellular stress and acute injury. From an evolutionary standpoint, genes pertaining to the\nregenerative capacity of an organism have been lost in higher mammals from more primitive species. Therefore, Muse cells may\noffer insight into the molecular and evolutionary bases of autonomous tissue regeneration and elucidate the molecular and cellular\nmechanisms that prevent mammals from regenerating limbs and organs, as planarians, newts, zebrafish, and salamanders do.
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