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Panning data for gold: the search for master regulators of cell fate

Nature Methods volume 10, pages 476–477 (2013)Cite this article

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An approach for analyzing gene expression data identifies putative lineage-specifying transcription factors that may prove useful in cellular reprogramming.

The mammalian genome encodes tens of thousands of coding transcripts and an unknown but ever-growing number of noncoding RNAs. The controlled use of this vast amount of genetic information at the appropriate time and place results in the generation of a finite number of cell types with characteristic properties. In this issue of Nature Methods, Heinäniemi et al.1 describe a bioinformatics approach that searches public gene-expression data sets for candidate transcriptional regulators for many human cell types, thereby providing a new resource for experiments aimed at direct lineage conversion.

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Figure 1: A computational biology approach to find regulators of cell fate.

Katie Vicari

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanguel Trapkov & Matthias Stadtfeld are at the Skirball Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.,

    Vanguel Trapkov & Matthias Stadtfeld

Authors
  1. Vanguel Trapkov
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  2. Matthias Stadtfeld
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Correspondence to Matthias Stadtfeld.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Trapkov, V., Stadtfeld, M. Panning data for gold: the search for master regulators of cell fate. Nat Methods 10, 476–477 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2491

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