title: Transdifferentiation: why and how?
abstract: Cell therapy is based on the replacement of damaged cells in order to restore injured tissues. The first consideration is that an abundant source of cells is needed; second, these cells should be immunologically compatible with the guest and third, there should be no real threat of these cells undergoing malignant transformation in the future. Given these requirements, already differentiated adult cells or adult stem cells obtained from the body of the patient appear to be the ideal candidates to meet all of these demands. The utilization of somatic cells also avoids numerous ethical and political drawbacks and concerns. Transdifferentiation is the phenomenon by which an adult differentiated cell switches to another differentiated cell. This paper reviews the importance of transdifferentiation, discussing the cells that are suitable for this process and the methods currently employed to induce the change in cell type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology, University of Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain. mperan@ugr.es
authors.forename: Macarena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perán
authors.forename: Juan Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Marchal
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Serrano
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aránega
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; D006801:Humans; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation