In Vivo Direct Reprogramming of Reactive Glial Cells into Functional Neurons after Brain Injury and in an Alzheimer’s Disease Model



Loss of neurons after brain injury and in neurodegenerative disease is often accompanied by reactive gliosis and scarring, which are actually irreversible. Recent  article in Cell Stem Cell journal demonstrates that reactive glial cells in the cortex of stab-injured or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) model mice can be directly reprogrammed into functional neurons in vivo using retroviral expression of a single neural transcription factor, NeuroD1. Following expression of NeuroD1, astrocytes were reprogrammed into glutamatergic neurons, while olygodendrocyte precursors  NG2 cells were reprogrammed into glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons which were able to generate spontaneous and evoked synaptic responses that allows to suggest their integration in local neural circuits. In vivo reprogramming of  reactive glial cells into functional neurons could provide new opportunities in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and injured brain.

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