Removing the brakes on cell identity

Ildem Akerman; Joris van Arensbergen; Jorge Ferrer

doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.04.002

Removing the brakes on cell identity

Dev Cell. 2011 Apr 19;20(4):411-2. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2011.04.002.

Authors

Ildem Akerman¹, Joris van Arensbergen, Jorge Ferrer

Affiliation

¹ Genomic Programming of Beta Cells Laboratory, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi Sunyer, Barcelona 08036, Spain.

PMID: 21497752
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2011.04.002

Abstract

In this issue of Developmental Cell, Dhawan et al. (2011) show that deletion of the Dnmt1 DNA methyltransferase gene in pancreatic insulin-producing cells makes these cells convert into glucagon-producing cells. This suggests that manipulation of a general epigenetic mechanism may be used to redirect cell fates.

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