Although transcriptome analysis can uncover the molecular changes that occur during induced reprogramming, the functional requirements for a given factor during stepwise cell-fate transitions are left unclear. Here, we used a genome-wide RNAi screen and performed integrated transcriptome analysis to identify key genes and cellular events required at the transition steps in reprogramming. Genes ...

In the field of developmental biology, the concept that cells, once terminally differentiated, are fixed in their cell fate was long believed to be true. However, Dr. Gurdon and colleagues challenged this fundamental doctrine and demonstrated that cellular reprogramming and cell fate conversion are possible by somatic nuclear transfer and cell fusion. The Weintraub laboratory discovered in the ...

Recent scientific breakthroughs in stem cell biology suggest that a sustainable treatment approach to cure diabetes mellitus (DM) can be achieved in the near future. However, the transplantation complexities and the difficulty in obtaining the stem cells from adult cells of pancreas, liver, bone morrow and other cells is a major concern. The epoch-making strategy of transcription-factor based c...

Input from various signaling pathways in conjunction with specific transcription factors (TFs), noncoding RNAs, and epigenetic modifiers governs the maintenance of cellular identity. Endogenous or exogenous TFs operate within certain boundaries, which are set, in part, by the cell type-specific epigenetic landscape. Ectopic expression of selected TFs can override the cellular identity and induc...

Cellular reprogramming is a new technique that is currently explored for its potential to manufacture human cell types in vitro. Direct cellular reprogramming allows the direct conversion of cells into a target cell type of interest. This approach is of particular interest for cells of the central nervous system, which are notoriously difficult to obtain. Experiments in which cells were convert...

BACKGROUND Understanding, modelling and influencing the transition between different states of cells, be it reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency or trans-differentiation between cells, is a hot topic in current biomedical and cell-biological research. Nevertheless, the large body of published knowledge in this area is underused, as most results are only represented in natural language...

CD4+ T cells are critical for the elimination of an immense array of microbial pathogens. Although there are aspects of helper T-cell differentiation that can be modeled as a classic cell-fate commitment, CD4+ T cells also maintain considerable flexibility in their transcriptional program. Here, we present an overview of chromatin biology during cellular reprogramming and, within this context, ...

Pluripotency is maintained in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells and is induced from somatic cells by the activation of appropriate transcriptional regulatory networks. Krüppel-like factor gene family members, such as Klf2, Klf4 and Klf5, have important roles in maintaining the undifferentiated state of mouse ES cells as well as in cellular reprogramming, yet it is not known whether other Klf fami...