Table 1:
Molecular features of pluripotent and in vitro experimental totipotent-like cells
| Features | mESCs | hESCs (naïve) | 2CLCs [2] | EPSCs [8, 9] | TBLCs [12] | TLSCs [13] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embryonic tissue contribution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extra embryonic contribution to trophectoderm (TE) | ||||||
| (i) Chimera assays (in vivo) | No | Ethically challenging | Yes# | Yes### | Yes | Yes |
| (ii) Blastoid-formation assay (in vitro) | No | Yes | Yes## | Yes### | Yes | Yes |
| (iii) Trophoblast stem cell (TSC) reprogramming | No | Yes | Not tested | Yes### | Not tested | Not tested |
| Transcriptomic profiles | ||||||
| Global comparison with mouse early embryonic states (Single-cell RNA-seq) | Similar to pre- implantation epiblast stage | Similar to pre- implantation epiblast stage | Not compared with in vivo totipotent cells | Similar to 4- and 8C stages### | Similar to 2- and 4-cell stages | Similar to 2- and 4-cell stages |
| Totipotency or 2C markers | No | No | High | No | High | High |
| Pluripotency markers | High | High | Low | High | Low | Low |
| MERVL | Low | Show HERV expression | High | No | High | High |
| Genomic landscape | ||||||
| Chromatin mobility | Low | comparable | High | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Chromatin accessibility | Low | comparable | High | Not tested | High; 8 cell and ICM-specific open ATAC-seq peaks | High, 2- & 4-cell specific open chromatin |
| DNA methylome | High | comparable | Low | Intermediate / Dynamic*; higher level of 5hmC | Low | Not tested |
| In vitro culture | ||||||
| Self-renewal | Yes | Yes | Transient | Yes | Yes | Yes |
#
but not tested with stringency [7]
##
Done using EpiSC derived iBLCs sup ref 2 which are molecularly similar to 2CLCs; also not done with single 2CLC
###
Challenged by [11]
*
Varying levels of 5mC were found between mESCs cultured in different media and EPSCs generated from mESCs of different genetic backgrounds [8]
Here high/low and yes/no are based on a comparison with mESCs