Abstract
RE S E A R C H E R S H A V E R E P R Ogrammed adult exocrine cells from the pancreas into the much different and rarer insulin-producing beta cells, a feat that could lead to improvements in diabetes care (Zhou Q et al. Nature. 10.1038/nature07314 [published online ahead of print August 27, 2008]). While the experiments were done in mice, they provide a proof of concept that relatively abundant adult cells of 1 type may be converted into other, therapeutically relevant cell types. Importantly, the investigators used a new genetic strategy that allowed them to avoid first converting the pancreatic exocrine cells into a primitive, stem cell–like state before turning them into insulin-secreting cells. “Our results show that adult cells can be directly converted into another type of adult cell . . . , which opens the possibility to directly convert cells in vivo for repair and regeneration,” said lead author Qiao Zhou, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of stem cell pioneer Douglas Melton, PhD, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
Published Version
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