LA RIPROGRAMMAZIONE DI ASTROCITI UMANI IN CELLULE NEURO-STAMINALI E NEURONI COME POSSIBILE STRUMENTO TERAPEUTICO PER LE PATOLOGIE NEUROLOGICHE

Generating neural stem cells and neurons from reprogrammed human astrocytes is a potential strategy for repair in neurological diseases. It has been recently showed that astrocytes from murine cerebral cortex can be differentiated into neurons by the forced expression of a single transcription factor (Heinrich et al., 2010). While these studies have evaluated astrocyte conversion in the murine context, a similar possibility has yet to be demonstrated in human cells. An essential element for developing such applications with therapeutic value is a thorough comprehension of the mechanisms that regulate reprogramming of adult cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) (Hanna et al., 2010) or directly into another committed lineage, such as fibroblasts converted into neurons and also specific neuronal subpopulations like dopaminergic neurons (Pang et al., 2011, Caiazzo et al., 2011). Here we demonstrate the possibility to obtain progenitors and mature cells of the neural fate directly from human cortical astrocytes with a dedifferentiation into neural stem/progenitor phenotype. Even if for the purpose of autologous cell transplantation in neurological disorders, fibroblasts from patients resemble a much more suitable source of neurons than astrocytes from patients, nevertheless, shading light in the mechanisms that make possible to reprogram astrocytes into NSCs is useful for the final goal of using these cells as endogenous cell source for in situ neural repair in the CNS without any invasive cell graft. Human astrocytes can be reprogrammed into iPSCs, with similar efficiencies to other cells, using the viral expression of four reprogramming factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and cMyc) (Riuz et al., 2008). Remarkably, overexpression of a single factor like OCT4 in adult cells can induce full reprogramming, as when it is expressed in NSCs (human and mouse) (Kim et al., 2009 a, b) or promote the formation of another phenotype, such as the generation of blood cells with its expression in human fibroblasts (Szabo et al., 2010). These data suggest that the effect of these stem reprogramming factors changes in relationship to the lineage and the differentiation stage of the cells expressing them. In the current work, using the individual expression of OCT4, SOX2, or NANOG, we demonstrated and characterized the direct neural fate conversion of human astrocytes into multipotent neural progenitors, in vitro and in vivo. These cells were generated in a manner that is independent of iPSC production. Individual ectopic expression of the reprogramming factors OCT4 or SOX2 or NANOG into astrocytes, together with specific cytokine/culture conditions, activated the neural stem gene program and induced the generation of cells expressing neural stem/precursors markers. This change of lineage commitment was obtained also in pure CD44+ mature astrocytes and did not require passing through a pluripotent state. These unique astrocytes-derived neural stem cells gave rise to neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and showed in vivo engraftment properties. ASCL1 expression further promotes the acquisition of a neuronal phenotype in vitro and in vivo. ASCL1 expression further promotes the acquisition of a neuronal phenotype in vitro and in vivo (Kim et al., 2009). To develop a broader understanding of astrocytes reprogramming we performed a methylation analysis demonstrating that epigenetic modifications underlie this process. These observations indicated that the sites of epigenetic and gene expression changes during reprogramming of astrocytes to NSCs are tightly linked to genes that are functionally important for pluripotency. These data demonstrate restoration of multipotency from human astrocytes, and point out a possible application of cellular reprogramming to endogenous CNS cells for repair of neurological disorders.