4.5 Article

Precise nanoinjection delivery of plasmid DNA into a single fibroblast for direct conversion of astrocyte

Journal

ARTIFICIAL CELLS NANOMEDICINE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 46, Issue -, Pages S1114-S1122

Publisher

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/21691401.2018.1446019

Keywords

Quantitative and controllable injection; a single cell; direct conversion; astrocytes

Funding

  1. Bio & Medical Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) - Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [2012M3A9C6050131, 2017M3A9C6026996, 2017M3A9C027000, 2012M3A9C6050124]
  2. National Research Foundation of Korea [2012M3A9C6050131, 2017M3A9C6026996, 2012M3A9C6050124] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Direct conversion is a powerful approach to safely generate mature neural lineages with potential for treatment of neurological disorders. Astrocytes play a crucial role in neuronal homeostasis and their dysfunctions contribute to several neurodegenerative diseases. Using a single-cell approach for precision, we describe here a robust method using optimized DNA amounts for the direct conversion of mouse fibroblasts to astrocytes. Controlled amount of the reprogramming factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc was directly delivered into a single fibroblast cell. Consequently, 2500 DNA molecules, no more or less, were found to be the optimal amount that dramatically increased the expression levels of the astrocyte-specific markers GFAP and S100b and the demethylation gene TET1, the expression of which was sustained to maintain astrocyte functionality. The converted astrocytes showed glutamate uptake ability and electrophysiological activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated a potential mechanism whereby fibroblast was directly converted into astrocyte at a single-cell level; this was achieved by activating BMP2 pathway through direct binding of Sox2 protein to BMP2 gene. This study suggests that nanotechnology for directly injecting plasmid DNAs into cell nuclei may help understand such a conversion at single-cell level.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.5
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available