title: Mash1 efficiently reprograms rat astrocytes into neurons.
abstract: To date, it remains poorly understood whether astrocytes can be easily reprogrammed into neurons. Mash1 and Brn2 have been previously shown to cooperate to reprogram fibroblasts into neurons. In this study, we examined astrocytes from 2-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats, and found that Brn2 was expressed, but Mash1 was not detectable. Thus, we hypothesized that Mash1 alone could be used to reprogram astrocytes into neurons. We transfected a recombinant MSCV-MASH1 plasmid into astrocytes for 72 hours, and saw that all cells expressed Mash1. One week later, we observed the changes in morphology of astrocytes, which showed typical neuronal characteristics. Moreover, β-tubulin expression levels were significantly higher in astrocytes expressing Mash1 than in control cells. These results indicate that Mash1 alone can reprogram astrocytes into neurons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Daofang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Leqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qianqian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yongjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Spine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China ; Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Brn2; Mash-1; astrocytes; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurons; plasmid; reprogram; retrovirus; the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program); β-tubulin