Progress of Researches on Transdifferentiation

Recent attention has focused on the remarkable ability of cells switching their phenotypes which is called transdifferentiation. States of developmental commitment are encoded as combination of transcription factors, and changes in their expression could bring about transdifferentiation. Transdifferentiation will have practical value in the design of novel therapies for the treatment of diseases when the new in vitro models of the process are set up. Recently discovered cases of transdifferentiation were summarized, and the potential molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the switches, their significance of developmental biology and medicine were illuminated.;