title: Transdifferentiation of Fibroblasts by Defined Factors.
abstract: Cellular differentiation is usually considered to be an irreversible process during development due to robust lineage commitment. Feedback and feed-forward loops play a significant role in maintaining lineage-specific gene expression processes in various cell types, and, in turn, factors secreted by cells may regulate the homeostatic balance of these cycles during development and differentiation. The output of biological responses is controlled by such mechanisms in many regulatory pathways through gene networks involved in transcription, RNA metabolism, signal transduction, micromolecular synthesis, and degradation. The pluripotent stage during cellular conversion may be avoided through ectopic expression of lineage-specific factors. Lineage-specific transcription factors produced during development may strengthen cell type-specific gene expression patterns. Cellular phenotypes are further stabilized by epigenetic modifications. This reprogramming approach could have important implications for disease modeling and regenerative and personalized medicine.
authors.affiliation: 1 Would Healing and Cell Biology Laboratory, Institute of Basic Medical Science, General Hospital of PLA , Beijing 10853, PR China .|2 Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of The Second Artillery Corps , Beijing 100088, PR China .|6 These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region , Shenyang 110000, PR China .|6 These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Mengyao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of PLA , Beijing 100853, PR China .
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of The Second Artillery Corps , Beijing 100088, PR China .
authors.forename: Xiaocheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: 5 Key Laboratory of Wound Repair and Regeneration of PLA, The First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of PLA , Beijing 100048, PR China .
authors.forename: Cuiping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 5 Key Laboratory of Wound Repair and Regeneration of PLA, The First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of PLA , Beijing 100048, PR China .
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors