Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jun;15(6):973-979.
doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.270292.

Adult neurogenesis from reprogrammed astrocytes

Brian B Griffiths  1 , Anvee Bhutani  1 , Creed M Stary  1
Affiliations
Review

Adult neurogenesis from reprogrammed astrocytes

Brian B Griffiths et al. Neural Regen Res. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

The details of adult neurogenesis, including environmental triggers, region specificity, and species homology remain an area of intense investigation. Slowing or halting age-related cognitive dysfunction, or restoring neurons lost to disease or injury represent just a fraction of potential therapeutic applications. New neurons can derive from stem cells, pluripotent neural progenitor cells, or non-neuronal glial cells, such as astrocytes. Astrocytes must be epigenetically "reprogrammed" to become neurons, which can occur both naturally in vivo, and via artificial exogenous treatments. While neural progenitor cells are localized to a few neurogenic zones in the adult brain, astrocytes populate almost every brain structure. In this review, we will summarize recent research into neurogenesis that arises from conversion of post-mitotic astrocytes, detail the genetic and epigenetic pathways that regulate this process, and discuss the possible clinical relevance in supplementing stem-cell neurogenic therapies.

Keywords: astrocyte; brain; dedifferentiation; development; disease; glia; injury; neurogenesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Doublecortin expression in the dentate gyrus. (A) Doublecortin immunofluorescence at ~12 hour fixation with 4% paraformaldehyde or (B) ~3 day fixation with 4% paraformaldehyde, highlighting the methodological difficulties in using doublecortin as a marker of neurogenesis in over-fixed tissue.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Neuronal and astrocyte development. Neural stem cells can renew, proliferate, or differentiate into neurons or astrocytes. After injury or disease in adulthood, some astrocytes can reenter the cell cycle.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aravantinou-Fatorou K, Ortega F, Chroni-Tzartou D, Antoniou N, Poulopoulou C, Politis PK, Berninger B, Matsas R, Thomaidou D. CEND1 and NEUROGENIN2 reprogram mouse astrocytes and embryonic fibroblasts to induced neural precursors and differentiated neurons. Stem Cell Rep. 2015;5:405–418. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arvidsson A, Collin T, Kirik D, Kokaia Z, Lindvall O. Neuronal replacement from endogenous precursors in the adult brain after stroke. Nat Med. 2002;8:963–970. - PubMed
    1. Augusto-Oliveira M, Arrifano GPF, Malva JO, Crespo-Lopez ME. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in different taxonomic groups: Possible functional similarities and striking controversies. Cells. 2019;8:125. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bachoo RM, Maher EA, Ligon KL, Sharpless NE, Chan SS, You MJ, Tang Y, DeFrances J, Stover E, Weissleder R, Rowitch DH, Louis DN, DePinho RA. Epidermal growth factor receptor and Ink4a/Arf: Convergent mechanisms governing terminal differentiation and transformation along the neural stem cell to astrocyte axis. Cancer Cell. 2002;1:269–277. - PubMed
    1. Berninger B, Costa MR, Koch U, Schroeder T, Sutor B, Grothe B, Götz M. Functional properties of neurons derived from in vitro reprogrammed postnatal astroglia. J Neurosci. 2007;27:8654–8664. - PMC - PubMed