Mol Cell: Over-silent DNA provides new ideas for cell reprogramming

Release date: 2018-01-09

January 9, 2018 / Bio Valley BIOON/ -- A new type of over-silencing DNA can be mediated by a recent study published in the journal Molecular Cell by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The reprogramming process of cells, which may be helpful in regenerative medicine research and ultimately in clinical treatment.

“In the past, most laboratories used gene activators to initiate new processes to achieve the goal of changing cell types,” said Dr. Ken Zaret, co-author of the study: “Our study shows that in some cases We need to remove the suppressing elements of the genes in the cell to ultimately achieve the purpose of activating the reprogramming process."

(Source: The laboratory of Ken Zaret, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania)

Researchers have attempted to transform skin cells into liver cells using reprogramming. It is well known that the transformation of cell types is inefficient, and this study shows why. The long-term goal of this study is to be able to replace diseased liver cells with newer liver cells derived from other cell types, such as skin cells. Since the cells are from the same individual, it is possible to avoid the phenomenon of transplant rejection.

The authors and Others have discovered a unique type of gene silencing approach (a phenomenon in which DNA is tightly packed to make it difficult for transcription factors to enter), which in turn regulates the activity of specific genes. The above special gene silencing is due to the fact that the DNA is too dense and the degree of chemical cross-linking is high, making it difficult to activate the transcription process.

Since there are more than 200 different types of cells in the human body, the gene expression of each cell must be regulated in an orderly manner. Most of the genes whose expression is silenced are genes that are not required for the cell to maintain cell characteristics. .

The authors and others have discovered a new class of proteins that can help make this area more complex. By artificially upregulating the expression activity of some silent genes in human skin cells, it is tested whether these complex DNA structures can be more easily opened. Some of the 50 genes tested were also mutated in neurodegenerative diseases.

"Although most of the reprogrammed genes are not in the 'excessive' silent DNA region, there are some important genes that exist here; so this phenomenon tells us that we should understand the reprogramming phenomenon in a more complicated way." The authors say the ultimate goal of this research is to find ways to make cell reprogramming more efficient. (Bio Valley Bioon.com)

Source: Gene editing

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