Embryonic body with color map showing actin forces (left). Red correlates with a higher force.FANJIE MENG
The stem cell field was rocked earlier this year by investigations into researchers’ claims to have reprogrammed somatic cells into pluripotent progenitors without the aid of transcription factors, which—given several failed attempts at independent replication, among other things—eventually led to the retraction of two Nature studies. So it was somewhat of a surprise when last month, another team claimed to have reprogrammed somatic cells toward a stem-like state by manipulating mechanical forces alone. The work, led by investigators at the University of Buffalo in New York, was published November 24 in PNAS.
Buffalo’s Fanjie Meng, Frederick Sachs, and their colleagues demonstrated a link between increased actin forces within cells and transition to a stem-like cell state. The group developed a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer ...
