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Updated: Jun 4, 2025

Reprogramming Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts with Transcription Factors to Induce a Hemogenic Program
Published on: December 16, 2016
Transcription factor-mediated reprogramming to antigen-presenting cells
Ervin Ascic1, Carlos-Filipe Pereira2
1Molecular Medicine and Gene Therapy, Lund Stem Cell Centre, Lund University, BMC A12, 221 84 Lund, Sweden; Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine at Lund University, BMC A12, 221 84 Lund, Sweden.
Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are a heterogenous group of immune cells composed by dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (Mϕ), which are critical for orchestrating immunity against cancer or infections. Several strategies have been explored to generate APC subsets, including enrichment from peripheral blood and differentiation from pluripotent or multipotent cells. During development, the generation of APC subsets is instructed by transcription factors (TFs). Direct cell reprogramming, also known as transdifferentiation, offers an approach to harness combinations of TFs to generate APCs from unrelated somatic cells, including cancer cells. In this review, we summarize the transcriptional specification of DC subsets, highlight transcriptional networks for their generation, and discuss future applications of DC reprogramming in cancer immunotherapy.
Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are a heterogenous group of immune cells composed by dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (Mϕ), which are critical for orchestrating immunity against cancer or infections. Several strategies have been explored to generate APC subsets, including enrichment from peripheral blood and differentiation from pluripotent or multipotent cells. During development, the generation of APC subsets is instructed by transcription factors (TFs). Direct cell reprogramming, also known as transdifferentiation, offers an approach to harness combinations of TFs to generate APCs from unrelated somatic cells, including cancer cells. In this review, we summarize the transcriptional specification of DC subsets, highlight transcriptional networks for their generation, and discuss future applications of DC reprogramming in cancer immunotherapy.
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