Review Article

Ribosomes: An Exciting Avenue in Stem Cell Research

Figure 2

PI3K/AKT/mTORC1 signaling involved in translation and pluripotency. PI3K is activated by cytokines, such as LIF, Wnt, and growth factor receptors, to induce cell proliferation and regulate mTOR signaling to maintain pluripotency. This primarily involves the mTORC1 complex that phosphorylates S6K and 4EB-P1. Phosphorylated 4EB-P1 relieves suppressed translation by stimulating cap-dependent translation; phosphorylated S6K increases the levels of ribosomal protein S6 that is important in the biogenesis of 40S subunits. This helps maintain stem cell pluripotency by enhancing ribosome biogenesis to promote the translation of specific stem cell genes.