Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Heterokaryon Technique for Analysis of Cell Type-specific Localization
Published on: March 11, 2011
Plasticity of cell fate: insights from heterokaryons
1Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Abstract:
Experiments with somatic cell hybrids and stable heterokaryons have demonstrated that differentiated cells exhibit a remarkable capacity to change. Heterokaryons have been particularly useful in determining the extent to which the differentiated state of a cell is plastic. Cell fate can be altered by a change in the balance of positive and negative trans-acting regulators. Although a single regulator may be sufficient in certain environments to trigger a change in cell fate, that regulator may be ineffective in other cell contexts where it encounters a different composition of regulators.
Related Concept Videos
Source And Potency Of Stem Cells
Maintenance of the ES Cell State
Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
Chromatin Modification in iPS Cells
Compact chromatin makes reprogramming difficult. Enzymes, such as histone demethylases and acetyltransferases, are often added during reprogramming to loosen the chromatin, making the DNA more accessible to transcription factors. Molecules that inhibit histone...
Forced Transdifferentiation
Artificial transdifferentiation occurs...
Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming

