Practice question

Pluripotent cells naturally arise in early embryo as inner cell mass and embryonic stem cell cultures derived therefrom using LIF and 2i conditions, capable of generating three germ layers in differentiation. Induced pluripotent stem cells are engineered artificial surrogates recapitulating pluripotency but are not natural products of mammalian development in vivo. Mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, adipose tissue, and umbilical cord are multipotent, differentiating into bone, cartilage, and fat under Runx2, Sox9, PPAR-gamma control, not all embryonic lineages. Thus they are not classified among pluripotent sources, distinguishing broad embryonic potency from lineage-limited stromal potential.