Nuclear reprogramming in heterokaryons is rapid, extensive, and bidirectional.

ABSTRACT: An understanding of nuclear reprogramming is fundamental to the use of cells in regenerative medicine. Due to technological obstacles, the time course and extent of reprogramming of cells following fusion has not been assessed to date. Here, we show that hundreds of genes are activated or repressed within hours of fusion of human keratinocytes and mouse muscle cells in heterokaryons, and extensive changes are observed within 4 days. This study was made possible by the development of a broadly applicable approach, species-specific transcriptome amplification (SSTA), which enables global resolution of transcripts derived from the nuclei of two species, even when the proportions of species-specific transcripts are highly skewed. Remarkably, either phenotype can be dominant; an excess of prima

SUBMITTER: Palermo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2669427 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature