The potential for clinical application of
pluripotent embryonic stem cells is immense but
hampered by moral and ethical complications. Recent
advances in the reprogramming of somatic cells by
defined factors to a state that resemble embryonic stem
cells have created tremendous excitement in the field.
Four factors, Sox2, Oct4, Klf4 and c-Myc, when
exogenously introduced into somatic cells, can lead to
the formation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that
have the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation
into tissues of all three germ layers. In this review, we
focus on the role of Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) in
regulating somatic cell reprogramming. KLFs are zinc
finger-containing transcription factors with diverse
biological functions. We first provide an overview of the
KLF family of regulatory proteins, paying special
attention to the established biological and biochemical
functions of KLF4 and KLF5. We then review the role of
KLFs in somatic cell reprogramming and delineate the
putative mechanism by which KLFs participates the
establishment and self-renewal of iPS cells. Further
research is likely to provide additional insight into the
mechanisms of somatic cell reprogramming and
refinement of the technique with which to generate
clinically relevant iPS cells