Challenges and Efficacy of Astrocyte-to-Neuron Reprogramming in Spinal Cord Injury: In Vitro Insights and In Vivo Outcomes.

ABSTRACT: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to the disruption of neural pathways, causing loss of neural cells, with subsequent reactive gliosis and tissue scarring that limit endogenous repair. One potential therapeutic strategy to address this is to target reactive scar-forming astrocytes with direct cellular reprogramming to convert them into neurons, by overexpression of neurogenic transcription factors. Here we used lentiviral constructs to overexpress Ascl1 or a combination of microRNAs (miRs) miR124, miR9/9*and NeuroD1 transfected into cultured and in vivo astrocytes. In vitro experiments revealed cortically-derived astrocytes display a higher efficiency (70%) of reprogramming to neurons than spinal cord-derived astrocytes. In a rat cervical SCI model

SUBMITTER: Niceforo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10996511 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature