Neuronal Reprogramming
Neuronal Reprogramming - Related Videos
02:12
Direct Neuronal Reprogramming of Mouse Astrocytes into Neurons
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2025
This video showcases the direct reprogramming of astrocytes expressing transforming factors into neurons. Transformation factors trigger a cascade of molecular events facilitating astrocyte-to-neuron conversion. The process is further supported by supplying specific agents and supplements through a neuronal differentiation medium.
02:14
Electrophysiological Recordings of Reprogrammed Neurons in a Mouse Brain Slice
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2025
This video demonstrates a protocol to evaluate the maturation and reprogramming of glial cells into neurons in a transfected mouse striatum slice. The experiment measures resting membrane potential and response to current injections using neuron-specific fluorescent markers and electrophysiological techniques. Voltage spikes during these measurements indicate successful neuronal maturation and reprogramming.
07:25
Isolation and Direct Neuronal Reprogramming of Mouse Astrocytes
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Cited by 2 •
2022
Here we describe a detailed protocol to generate highly enriched cultures of astrocytes derived from different regions of the central nervous system of postnatal mice and their direct conversion into functional neurons by the forced expression of transcription factors.
02:59
Cell Fate Reprogramming of Nematode Germ Cells into Neurons
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2025
This video demonstrates cell fate reprogramming of nematode germ cells into neurons. Transgenic larvae of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are subjected to RNA interference (RNAi) to knock down a specific chromatin-regulating factor, making the germ cells of their progeny more susceptible to cell fate reprogramming. Heat shock is applied to the progeny, inducing the germ cells to express a neuron-specific transcription factor that triggers their transformation into neurons, which is...
09:36
Lineage-reprogramming of Pericyte-derived Cells of the Adult Human Brain into Induced Neurons
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Cited by 21 •
2014
Targeting brain-resident cells for direct lineage-reprogramming offers new perspectives for brain repair. Here we describe a protocol of how to prepare cultures enriched for brain-resident pericytes from the adult human cerebral cortex and convert these into induced neurons by retrovirus-mediated expression of the transcription factors Sox2 and Ascl1.
FAQs
The central molecular change is a rewiring of gene regulation. Defined transcription factors can activate neuronal programs while suppressing genes that maintain the starting cell’s identity; microRNAs and small molecules can contribute to this regulatory shift. This coordinated change matters because neuronal characteristics depend on altering interconnected gene-regulatory networks rather than activating a single neuron-associated feature.
Direct approaches alter the starting cell’s identity toward a neuronal program without an intervening pluripotent or progenitor-like state. Other strategies first pass through one of those intermediate states before establishing neuronal characteristics. This distinction describes how cell identity changes over time and provides an important framework for comparing reprogramming designs and interpreting their resulting neuronal properties.
Several outcomes remain important challenges: conversion efficiency, neuronal subtype specification, maturation, connectivity, and long-term safety. These dimensions address different questions, including how many cells change identity, what kind of neuron they resemble, whether they develop appropriate properties, how they relate to other neurons, and whether their behavior remains suitable over time. Together, they determine experimental usefulness.
A study generally begins with a mature differentiated cell population and a defined reprogramming strategy based on transcription factors, microRNAs, or small molecules. The selected regulators are used to alter gene-regulatory networks and silence the original identity, after which investigators consider neuronal function, subtype, maturation, or connectivity according to the research goal. The workflow therefore links molecular intervention to neuronal outcomes.
Reprogrammed neuronal systems can provide models for examining nervous-system development, neuronal maturation, and connectivity, while also supporting disease modeling. Their value lies in creating a way to study neuronal properties and developmental processes without relying solely on existing neural tissue. These models can help researchers connect altered cell identity with features relevant to neurological research.
The approach can support screening for neuroactive therapies by providing neuronal systems in which treatment effects are studied. It may also inform future strategies for replacing damaged neurons, although that application remains constrained by efficiency, subtype specification, maturation, connectivity, and long-term safety. These limitations mean that experimental success requires more than producing cells with an initial neuronal identity.