Lineage reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells by CRISPR/Cas9-based transcriptional activators

Publication date: Available online 17 September 2019Source: Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica BAuthor(s): Jianglin Wang, Xueyan Jiang, Lixin Zhao, Shengjia Zuo, Xiantong Chen, Lingmin Zhang, Zhongxiao Lin, Xiaoya Zhao, Yuyan Qin, Xinke Zhou, Xi-Yong YuAbstractOverexpression of exogenous lineage-determining factors succeeds in directly reprogramming fibroblasts to various cell types. Several studies have reported reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells (iCPCs). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene activation is a potential approach for cellular reprogramming due to its high precision and multiplexing capacity. Here we show lineage reprogramming to iCPCs through a dead Cas9 (dCas9)-based transcription activation system. Targeted and robust activation of endogenous cardiac factors, including GATA4, HAND2, MEF2C and TBX5 (G, H, M and T; GHMT), can reprogram human fibroblasts toward iCPCs. The iCPCs show potentials to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells in vitro. Addition of MEIS1 to GHMT induces cell cycle arrest in G2/M and facilitates cardiac reprogramming. Lineage reprogramming of human fibroblasts into iCPCs provides a promising cellular resource for disease modeling, drug discovery and individualized cardiac cell therapy.Graphical abstractHuman foreskin fibroblasts were reprogrammed into induced cardiac progenitor cells via a CRISPR/Cas9-based synergistic activation mediator-mediated gene activation.
Source: Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research