Attenuation of PRRX2 and HEY2 enables efficient conversion of adult human skin fibroblasts to neurons.

ABSTRACT: The direct conversion of accessible cells such as human fibroblasts to inaccessible cells, particularly neurons, opens up many opportunities for using the human model system to study diseases and discover therapies. Previous studies have indicated that the neuronal conversion of adult human skin fibroblasts is much harder than that for human lung fibroblasts, which are used in many experiments. Here we formally report this differential plasticity of human skin versus lung fibroblasts in their transdifferentiation to induced neurons. Using RNAseq of isogenic and non-isogenic pairs of human skin and lung fibroblasts at different days in their conversion to neurons, we found that several master regulators (TWIST1, TWIST2, PRRX1 and PRRX2) in the fibroblast Gene Regulatory Network were signifi

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6646072 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature