How a single molecule turns one immune cell into another

Stills from time-lapse video showing transdifferentiation of pre-B cells into yeast-eating macrophages. All it takes is one molecule to reprogram an antibody-producing B cell into a scavenging macrophage. This transformation is possible, new evidence shows, because the molecule (C/EBPa, a transcription factor) "short-circuits" the cells so that they re-express genes reserved for embryonic development. The findings appear July 30 in Stem Cell Reports, the journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

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