title: FGF8 is Essential for Functionality of Induced Neural Precursor Cell-derived Dopaminergic Neurons.
abstract: Induced neural precursor cells (iNPCs) are one source of transplantable dopaminergic neurons used in cell therapy for Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we demonstrate that iNPCs can be generated by transducing Brn2, Ascl1, Myt1L and Bcl-xL in a culture supplemented with several mitogens and subsequently can be differentiated to dopaminergic neurons (DA). However, studies have shown that iDA and/or iNPC-derived DA neurons using various conversion protocols have low efficiency. Here, we show that early exposure of FGF8 to fibroblasts efficiently improves differentiation of DA neurons. So our study demonstrates that FGF8 is a critical factor for generation of iNPC-derived DA neurons.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea ; Hanyang Biomedical Research Institute, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea ; Hanyang Biomedical Research Institute, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea ; Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Direct conversion; Dopamine neuron; FGF8; iNPC