0000000000732728
AUTHOR
Abhijeet Pataskar
Highlights of the 1st Student Symposium on Computational Genomics
On 30 November 2016, over 70 junior researchers in computational biology from diverse countries met in Mainz, Germany, for the 1st Student Symposium on Computational Genomics. Overall, the symposium was a great success and featured four outstanding keynote lectures, nine selected student talks, and over 38 poster presentations. This report briefly highlights the scientific outcomes and activities of this student-driven event.
Direct pericyte-to-neuron reprogramming via unfolding of a neural stem cell-like program
Ectopic expression of defined transcription factors can force direct cell-fate conversion from one lineage to another in the absence of cell division. Several transcription factor cocktails have enabled successful reprogramming of various somatic cell types into induced neurons (iNs) of distinct neurotransmitter phenotype. However, the nature of the intermediate states that drive the reprogramming trajectory toward distinct iN types is largely unknown. Here we show that successful direct reprogramming of adult human brain pericytes into functional iNs by Ascl1 and Sox2 encompasses transient activation of a neural stem cell-like gene expression program that precedes bifurcation into distinct…