The Multifaceted Roles of Zinc Finger Proteins in Pluripotency and Reprogramming

Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) play a crucial role in regulating gene expression. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence highlighting the importance of zinc finger proteins in pluripotent stem cells, which hold great promise in regenerative medicine. The general mechanism by which zinc finger proteins function in gene regulation of pluripotent stem cells involves their interaction with core transcriptional regulatory networks. ZFPs can either enhance key pluripotency genes to maintain pluripotency or promote differentiation of stem cells towards specific lineages by suppressing these key pluripotency genes. Hence, understanding the role of ZFPs in pluripotency and reprogramming is crucial for unraveling the complex regulatory network that governs cell fate decisions. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the current knowledge regarding the multifaceted role of ZFPs in pluripotency maintenance and reprogramming. We propose that more efforts should be focused on fully understanding the fascinating functions of ZFPs in stem cell fate decision.