Designer switches of cell fate could streamline stem cell biology
The ability to convert cells from one type to another holds great promise for engineering cells and tissues for therapeutic application, and the new Wisconsin study could help speed research and bring the technology to the clinic faster. The new approach, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , uses a library of artificial transcription factors to switch on genes that convert cells from one type to another. Natural transcription factors are cellular molecules that bind to DNA to turn genes on and off. They help determine cell fate, meaning that if a cell is destined to be a skin cell, a heart cell or an eye cell, different transcription factors switch on specific sets of genes that program the cell to attain one state or another. Using artificial transcription factors made in the lab, researchers are trying to find which ones best mimic these natural changes in cell fate. "Our interest in changing cell fate comes from understanding how c...