Small Molecules Enable Cardiac Reprogramming of Mouse Fibroblasts with a Single Factor, Oct4

• Main Authors: Haixia Wang, Nan Cao, C. Ian Spencer, Baoming Nie, Tianhua Ma, Tao Xu, Yu Zhang, Xiaojing Wang, Deepak Srivastava, Sheng Ding
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014-03-01
• Series: Cell Reports
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124714000722

It was recently shown that mouse fibroblasts could be reprogrammed into cells of a cardiac fate by forced expression of multiple transcription factors and microRNAs. For ultimate application of such a reprogramming strategy for cell-based therapy or in vivo cardiac regeneration, reducing or eliminating the genetic manipulations by small molecules would be highly desirable. Here, we report the identification of a defined small-molecule cocktail that enables the highly efficient conversion of mouse fibroblasts into cardiac cells with only one transcription factor, Oct4, without any evidence of entrance into the pluripotent state. Small-molecule-induced cardiomyocytes spontaneously contract and exhibit a ventricular phenotype. Furthermore, these induced cardiomyocytes pass through a cardiac progenitor stage. This study lays the foundation for future pharmacological reprogramming approaches and provides a small-molecule condition for investigation of the mechanisms underlying the cardiac reprogramming process.