Development of gene expression signatures for identifying novel factors that can overcome age-associated reprogramming barriers. Mus musculus

To investigate the molecular features underlying senescence and rejuvenation during aged cell reprogramming and identify novel factors that can overcome age-associated barriers, we compared gene expression for reprogramming intermediates on D8 of tail-tip fibroblasts (TTFs) from young Wild Type (WT), old WT, and old p16 knockout (KO) mice. Overall design: We collected TTFs from young WT, old WT, and old p16 KO mice and reprogrammed the cells by introducing four reprogramming factors, including Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. Gene expression of reprogramming intermediates on D8 were compared. Two independent experiments were performed using different mice donors for each experiment.