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

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. 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.