To date biomedicine and pharmacology have required generating new and more
consummate models. One of the most perspective trends in this field is using
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSC application requires careful
high-throughput analysis at the molecular, epigenetic, and functional levels.
The methods used have revealed that the expression pattern of genes and
microRNA, DNA methylation, as well as the set and pattern of covalent histone
modifications in iPSCs, are very similar to those in embryonic stem cells.
Nevertheless, iPSCs have been shown to possess some specific features that can
be acquired during the reprogramming process or are remnants of epigenomes and
transcriptomes of the donor tissue. These residual signatures of epigenomes and
transcriptomes of the somatic tissue of origin were termed “epigenetic
memory.” In this review, we discuss the “epigenetic memory”
phenomenon in the context of the reprogramming process, its influence on iPSC
properties, and the possibilities of its application in cell technologies.
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