Marcos R. Costa
Instituto do Cérebro - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)
Title: Cell lineage reprogramming of astroglia into region-specific induced neurons
Biography:
Areas of interest: Desenvolvimento do córtex cerebral, neurogênese adulta e terapias celulares
Abstract:
Astroglial cells are abundant in the injured central nervous system and have been proposed as an endogenous source of cells for neuronal repair. Notably, genetic manipulation of these cells using exogenous genes, micro RNAs or small molecules has been shown to induce their phenotypic conversion into induced neuronal cells (iN), capable of integrating into the brain circuitry following in situ transplantation. Recent work in my laboratory has contributed to unravel the potential of astroglial cells isolated from distinct central nervous system structures. Using astroglial cells isolated from the neocortex, cerebellum and retina, we could show the widespread potential of these cells to be lineage reprogrammed into iNs. Importantly, we show that astroglia isolated from different regions differentiate into iNs with phenotypes resembling that of endogenous neurons, suggesting that region-specific astroglia are prompted to regenerate neurons of the same region. However, integration of astroglia-derived iNs in the adult mouse brain is limited as compared to the post-natal brain, indicating that further improvements are required towards the development of astroglia-based therapies.