Outside-in reprogramming: Antibody study suggests a better way to make stem cells
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a new approach to the "reprogramming" of ordinary adult cells into stem cells. In a study published in an Advance Online paper in Nature Biotechnology , the TSRI scientists screened a library of 100 million antibodies and found several that can help reprogram mature skin-like cells into stem cells known as induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs). Making IPSCs from more mature types of cells normally involves the insertions of four transcription factor genes into the DNA of those cells. The antibodies identified by the scientists can be applied to mature cells -- where they bind to proteins on the cell surface -- as a substitute for three of the standard transcription factor gene-insertions. "This result suggests that ultimately we might be able to make IPSCs without putting anything in the cell nucleus, which potentially means that these stem cells will have fewer mutations and overall better propert...