Publications by authors named "M Borkent"

Introduction: Mercaptopurine, a thiopurine, is used in various disorders of immune regulation, such as autoimmune hepatitis. Thiopurine metabolism is complex with risk for overdosing, especially when metabolism is impaired by liver dysfunction. Hepatotoxicity may be due to mercaptopurine overdose and is often reversible after prompt cessation of the drug.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cell fate transitions involve rapid gene expression changes and global chromatin remodeling, yet the underlying regulatory pathways remain incompletely understood. Here, we identified the RNA-processing factor Nudt21 as a novel regulator of cell fate change using transcription-factor-induced reprogramming as a screening assay. Suppression of Nudt21 enhanced the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, facilitated transdifferentiation into trophoblast stem cells, and impaired differentiation of myeloid precursors and embryonic stem cells, suggesting a broader role for Nudt21 in cell fate change.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from differentiated cells following forced expression of OCT4, KLF4, SOX2, and C-MYC (OKSM) is slow and inefficient, suggesting that transcription factors have to overcome somatic barriers that resist cell fate change. Here, we performed an unbiased serial shRNA enrichment screen to identify potent repressors of somatic cell reprogramming into iPSCs. This effort uncovered the protein modifier SUMO2 as one of the strongest roadblocks to iPSC formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF