MicroRNA-Mediated In Vitro and In Vivo Direct Conversion of Astrocytes to Neuroblasts.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26030913.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0127878 and PMC identifier 4451260.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The conversion of astrocytes to neuroblasts holds great promise for treatment of neurodegenerative and traumatic brain diseases. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we have shown that adult human astrocytes could be reprogrammed to neuroblasts by miR-302/367, both in vivo and in vitro. However, the reprogramming of adult mouse astrocytes to neuroblasts required valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Following induction of astrocytes toward neurons the expression of pluripotency markers were not detected, which suggested direct cell conversion. We did not observed tumor formation during two months follow up. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that neuroblasts can be generated directly from adult human and mouse astrocytes by miR-302/367-driven induction. This approach seems promising for converting glial scar cells into neuroblasts in a wide range of neurological diseases.
Medical subject headings
- Astrocytes
- MicroRNAs
- Neurons