showing 4 related works from this author
In vivo reprogramming for tissue repair.
2015
Berninger and colleagues define milestones for in vivo reprogramming and discuss recent developments in reprogramming into pancreatic b-cells and neurons. Vital organs such as the pancreas and the brain lack the capacity for effective regeneration. To overcome this limitation, an emerging strategy consists of converting resident tissue-specific cells into the cell types that are lost due to disease by a process called in vivo lineage reprogramming. Here we discuss recent breakthroughs in regenerating pancreatic β-cells and neurons from various cell types, and highlight fundamental challenges that need to be overcome for the translation of in vivo lineage reprogramming into therapy.
Reprogramming of Pericyte-Derived Cells of the Adult Human Brain into Induced Neuronal Cells
2012
SummaryReprogramming of somatic cells into neurons provides a new approach toward cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. A major challenge for the translation of neuronal reprogramming into therapy is whether the adult human brain contains cell populations amenable to direct somatic cell conversion. Here we show that cells from the adult human cerebral cortex expressing pericyte hallmarks can be reprogrammed into neuronal cells by retrovirus-mediated coexpression of the transcription factors Sox2 and Mash1. These induced neuronal cells acquire the ability of repetitive action potential firing and serve as synaptic targets for other neurons, indicating their capability of integrat…
Sox2-Mediated Conversion of NG2 Glia into Induced Neurons in the Injured Adult Cerebral Cortex
2014
Summary The adult cerebral cortex lacks the capacity to replace degenerated neurons following traumatic injury. Conversion of nonneuronal cells into induced neurons has been proposed as an innovative strategy toward brain repair. Here, we show that retrovirus-mediated expression of the transcription factors Sox2 and Ascl1, but strikingly also Sox2 alone, can induce the conversion of genetically fate-mapped NG2 glia into induced doublecortin (DCX)+ neurons in the adult mouse cerebral cortex following stab wound injury in vivo. In contrast, lentiviral expression of Sox2 in the unlesioned cortex failed to convert oligodendroglial and astroglial cells into DCX+ cells. Neurons induced following …
Identification and Successful Negotiation of a Metabolic Checkpoint in Direct Neuronal Reprogramming
2016
Despite the widespread interest in direct neuronal reprogramming, the mechanisms underpinning fate conversion remain largely unknown. Our study revealed a critical time point after which cells either successfully convert into neurons or succumb to cell death. Co-transduction with Bcl-2 greatly improved negotiation of this critical point by faster neuronal differentiation. Surprisingly, mutants with reduced or no affinity for Bax demonstrated that Bcl-2 exerts this effect by an apoptosis-independent mechanism. Consistent with a caspase-independent role, ferroptosis inhibitors potently increased neuronal reprogramming by inhibiting lipid peroxidation occurring during fate conversion. Genome-w…