%0 Journal Article
%T From fibroblast cells to cardiomyocytes: direct lineage reprogramming
%A Lei Yang
%J Stem Cell Research & Therapy
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/scrt42
%X Recent advances in stem cell biology have established the feasibility of reprogramming human and murine fibroblast cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells [1-3]. The ectopic expression of four transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4) in fibroblasts was shown to be efficacious in the conversion of fibroblast cells into embryonic stem (ES) cell-like status. Generation of iPS cells ushers in a new era in reprogramming differentiated somatic cells, including fibroblasts, neural cells, liver cells, stomach cells, and blood cells, into ES cell-like stem cells [4]. With the progress of iPS technology, the concept of 'master regulators', defined as a group of major reprogramming factors playing a critical role in the management of cell status of 'pluripotent' versus 'differentiated', has been demonstrated. The group of master regulators for iPS cell generation is found to be effective with only three genes [5], which is far fewer than the hundreds or thousands of genes that were presumed to be involved in the determination of cell fate or status.Successful reprogramming of fibroblast cells into iPS cells raised the possibility of directly converting one somatic cell type into other cell types. By overexpressing Ngn3, Pdx1, and Mafa, Zhou and colleagues [6] reported the conversion of exocrine pancreas cells into cells closely resembling beta cells and having the function of secreting insulin. In 2010, successful reprogramming of fibroblast cells into functional neuron cells was reported with the enforced expression of Ascl1, Brn2, and Myt1l [7]. Recently, Srivastava's group [8] used the same strategy and reported another breakthrough in direct reprogramming of mouse fibroblast cells into beating cardiomyocyte-like cells: the transduction of a set of three cardiac master factors important in early heart development (Gata4, Mef2c, and Tbx5). This is the first paper to reveal the possibility of directly committing fibroblast cells into heart muscle cells that
%U http://stemcellres.com/content/2/1/1