Sonic Hedgehog Effectively Improves Oct4-Mediated Reprogramming of Astrocytes into Neural Stem Cells.

ABSTRACT: Irreversible neuron loss following spinal cord injury (SCI) usually results in persistent neurological dysfunction. The generation of autologous neural stem cells (NSCs) holds great potential for neural replenishment therapies and drug screening in SCI. Our recent studies demonstrated that mature astrocytes from the spinal cord can directly revert back to a pluripotent state under appropriate signals. However, in previous attempts, the reprogramming of astrocytes into induced NSCs (iNSCs) was unstable, inefficient, and frequently accompanied by generation of intermediate precursors. It remained unknown how to further increase the efficiency of astrocyte reprogramming into iNSCs. Here, we show that mature astrocytes could be directly converted into iNSCs by a single transcription factor, Oc

SUBMITTER: Yang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6698197 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature