This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of quercetin on pulmonary arterial endothelial cell (PAEC) transdifferentiation into smooth muscle-like cells. TGF-β1-induced PAEC transdifferentiation models were applied to evaluate the pharmacological actions of quercetin. PAEC proliferation was detected with CCK8 method and BurdU immunocytochemistry. Meanwhile, the identification an...

Non-neurogenic cell types, such as cortical astroglia and fibroblasts, can be directly converted into neurons by the overexpression of defined transcription factors. Normally, the cellular phenotype of such differentiated cells is remarkably stable and resists direct cell transdifferentiation. Here we show that the Ink4a/Arf (also known as Cdkn2a) locus is a developmental barrier to direct neur...

Muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) are multipotent stem cells with a remarkable long-term self-renewal and regeneration capacity. Here, we show that postnatal MDSCs could be transdifferentiated into Schwann cell-like cells upon the combined treatment of three neurotrophic factors (PDGF, NT-3 and IGF-2). The transdifferentiation of MDSCs was initially induced by Schwann cell (SC) conditioned medi...

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells are one of the most promising cell sources for tissue engineering [1]. Until recently, it was common opinion that during differentiation these cells become lineage restricted and unipotent in an irreversible manner. However, current data imply that even terminally differentiated cells transdifferentiate across lineage boundaries, and thus serve as progenito...

Deciphering effective ways to suppress tumor progression and to overcome acquired apoptosis resistance of tumor cells are major challenges in the tumor therapy field. We propose a new concept by which tumor progression can be suppressed by manipulating tumor cell identity. In this study, we examined the effect of ER stress on apoptosis resistant tumorous cells in a Caenorhabditis elegans germli...

The molecular events associated with the age-related gain of fatty tissue in human bone marrow are still largely unknown. Besides enhanced adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), transdifferentiation of osteoblast progenitors may contribute to bone-related diseases like osteopenia. Transdifferentiation of MSC-derived osteoblast progenitors into adipocytes and vice versa has...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the transdifferentiation relationship between eight types of liver cell during rat liver regeneration (LR). MATERIALS AND METHODS 114 healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used in this experimental study. Eight types of liver cell were isolated and purified with percoll density gradient centrifugation and immunomagentic bead methods. Marker genes for eight types of ce...

The definition of stem cell is “an unspecialized cell that gives rise to a specific specialized cell, such as a blood cell”. Stem Cell is the original of life. All cells come from stem cells. Serving as a repair system for the living body, the stem cells can divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the living body is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the p...

OBJECTIVE Some recent studies suggest that multiple miRNAs might regulate neurogenic transdifferentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). In the present study, we hypothesized that the miR-124 can repress the expression of RhoA upon the neurogenesis of adipose derived MSCs (ADMSCs). METHODS MiRNA expression dynamics during neurogenic transdifferentiation of ADMSCs were measured. The expr...

Lineage plasticity, the ability to transdifferentiate among distinct phenotypic identities, facilitates therapeutic resistance in multiple cancers. In lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs), this phenomenon includes small cell and squamous (LUSC) histologic transdifferentiation context of acquired targeted inhibition driver mutations. The incidence into carcinoma EGFR mutant tumors, setting where shift h...