Mechanism and Utility of Direct Neuronal Conversion with a MicroRNA-Chromatin Switch

Many human diseases and injuries that affect the brain and nervous system could potentially be treated by either introducing healthy neurons or persuading the cells that normally provide supporting functions to become functioning neurons. A number of barriers must be traversed to bring these goals to practical therapies. Recently our laboratory and others have found ways of converting different human cell types to functioning neurons. Surprisingly, two routes for the production of neurons have been discovered. Our preliminary evidence indicates that these two routes are likely to work together and therefore more effective ways of producing neurons can likely be provided by understanding these two routes, which is one aim of this application. Another barrier to effective treatment of human neurologic diseases has been the inability to develop good models of human neurologic disease due to inability to sample tissues from patients with these diseases. Hence we will understand ways of making neurons from blood cells and other cells, which can be easily obtained from patients with little or no risk. Our third goal will be to understand how different types of neurons can be produced from patient cells. We would also like to understand the barriers and check points that keep one type of cell from becoming another another type of cell. Understanding these mysterious processes could help provide new sources of human cells for replacement therapies and disease models.