Abstract
Direct conversion of glia into neurons by cellular reprogramming represents a novel approach toward a cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative processes. Here we describe a protocol that allows for the direct and efficient in vitro reprogramming of mouse astroglia from the early postnatal neocortex by forced expression of single neurogenic fate determinants. By selective retrovirus-mediated expression of neurogenin-2 (Neurog2) on the one hand, or the mouse homologue of Distal-less Dlx2 or the mammalian homologue of achaete-schute-1 (Mash1) on the other, it is possible to drive postnatal astroglia in culture toward the genesis of fully functional, synapse-forming, glutamatergic, i.e., excitatory, and GABAergic, i.e., inhibitory, neurons, respectively.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BE 4182/1-3 and GO 640/9-1), the BMBF, EUTRACC, HELMA, and the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts (ForNeuroCell). We wish to thank Tatiana Simon-Ebert for her excellent technical help in optimizing the protocol and Dr. Alex Lepier and Simone Bauer for virus production.
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Heinrich, C., Götz, M., Berninger, B. (2012). Reprogramming of Postnatal Astroglia of the Mouse Neocortex into Functional, Synapse-Forming Neurons. In: Milner, R. (eds) Astrocytes. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 814. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-452-0_32
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-452-0_32
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