Direct reprogramming of terminally differentiated B cells into erythroid lineage

► We tried reprogramming terminally differentiated B cells into erythroid lineage. ► We introduced various transcription factors into activated B cells by retrovirus. ► Erythroid conversion of B cells was achieved by introducing GATA-1, SCL and C/EBPα. ► Converted cells retained rearrangement of IgH gene, confirming their B cell origin. ► Converted cells presented erythroid morphology and expressed erythrocyte genes. Hematopoietic progenitors have been shown to retain plasticity and switch lineages by appropriate stimuli. However, mature blood cells hardly showed such differentiation plasticity. In this paper, we tried to reprogram mature B cells into erythroid lineage by expressing various hematopoietic transcription factors. Among various factors, GATA-1, SCL together with CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) α turned out to be a minimal set of factors that efficiently reprogrammed terminally differentiated mature B cells into erythroid lineage, as evidenced by colony forming assays and erythroid-specific gene expressions. This study sets an avenue to generate autologous erythrocytes from peripheral B cells.