title: Conversion of mouse and human fibroblasts into functional spinal motor neurons.
abstract: The mammalian nervous system comprises many distinct neuronal subtypes, each with its own phenotype and differential sensitivity to degenerative disease. Although specific neuronal types can be isolated from rodent embryos or engineered from stem cells for translational studies, transcription factor-mediated reprogramming might provide a more direct route to their generation. Here we report that the forced expression of select transcription factors is sufficient to convert mouse and human fibroblasts into induced motor neurons (iMNs). iMNs displayed a morphology, gene expression signature, electrophysiology, synaptic functionality, in vivo engraftment capacity, and sensitivity to degenerative stimuli similar to those of embryo-derived motor neurons. We show that the converting fibroblasts do not transit through a proliferative neural progenitor state, and thus form bona fide motor neurons via a route distinct from embryonic development. Our findings demonstrate that fibroblasts can be converted directly into a specific differentiated and functional neural subtype, the spinal motor neuron.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Esther Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Justin K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ichida
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wainger
authors.forename: Jeremy S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Toma
authors.forename: Victor F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Rafuse
authors.forename: Clifford J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eggan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D054351:Electrical Synapses / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors