图片来源：Cell
8月6日，美国和日本的研究人员在《细胞》（Cell）杂志网络版上发表论文称，他们通过在成纤维原细胞中植入特定的Gata4, Mef2c和Tbx5种基因，成功培育出心肌细胞。研究人员发现，在小鼠胚胎的心脏中，有3种基因是生成心肌细胞必不可少的。通过向纤维原细胞中植入这3种基因，可以获得驱动心跳的心肌细胞。与利用诱导多功能干细胞(iPS细胞)培育心肌细胞相比，这种方法更加安全、简捷。
据新华社记者采访该项研究负责人家田真树,这位日本庆应大学助教说：“今后将确认是否可以用同样方法制造出人类心肌细胞。如果可行，心肌梗塞患者将无需接受开胸手术，而只需通过导入这些基因，让那里的纤维原细胞直接生成健康的心肌细胞。”>
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Cell doi：10.1016/j.cell.2010.07.002
Direct Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Functional Cardiomyocytes by Defined Factors
Masaki Ieda, Ji-Dong Fu, Paul Delgado-Olguin, Vasanth Vedantham, Yohei Hayashi, Benoit G. Bruneau, Deepak Srivastava
The reprogramming of fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) raises the possibility that a somatic cell could be reprogrammed to an alternative differentiated fate without first becoming a stem/progenitor cell. A large pool of fibroblasts exists in the postnatal heart, yet no single “master regulator” of direct cardiac reprogramming has been identified. Here, we report that a combination of three developmental transcription factors (i.e., Gata4, Mef2c, and Tbx5) rapidly and efficiently reprogrammed postnatal cardiac or dermal fibroblasts directly into differentiated cardiomyocyte-like cells. Induced cardiomyocytes expressed cardiac-specific markers, had a global gene expression profile similar to cardiomyocytes, and contracted spontaneously. Fibroblasts transplanted into mouse hearts one day after transduction of the three factors also differentiated into cardiomyocyte-like cells. We believe these findings demonstrate that functional cardiomyocytes can be directly reprogrammed from differentiated somatic cells by defined factors. Reprogramming of endogenous or explanted fibroblasts might provide a source of cardiomyocytes for regenerative approaches.
