Single protein prompts mature brain cells to regenerate multiple cell
types
Findings could lead to new ways to treat brain injuries and disease

Date:
March 8, 2022
Source:
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Summary:
A single protein can reverse the developmental clock on adult brain
cells called astrocytes, morphing them into stem-like cells that
produce neurons and other cell types, UT Southwestern researchers
report in a new study. The findings might someday lead to a way
to regenerate brain tissue after disease or injury.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A single protein can reverse the developmental clock on adult brain
cells called astrocytes, morphing them into stem-like cells that produce neurons and other cell types, UT Southwestern researchers report in a
PNAS study. The findings might someday lead to a way to regenerate brain
tissue after disease or injury.


========================================================================== "We're showing that it may be possible to reprogram the fate of this
subset of brain cells, giving them the potential to rebuild the damaged
brain," said study leader and co-corresponding author Chun-Li Zhang,
Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Biology and an Investigator in the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute.

During development, mammalian stem cells readily proliferate to produce
neurons throughout the brain and cells -- called glia -- that help support them. Glia help maintain optimal brain function by performing essential
jobs like cleaning up waste and insulating nerve fibers. However, the
mature brain largely loses that stem cell capacity. Only two small
regenerative zones, or niches, remain in the adult brain, Dr. Zhang
explained, leaving it with extremely limited capacity to heal itself
following injury or disease.

Recent research has suggested that glia can be prompted to produce neurons
in some models of brain injury or after genetic manipulation. Although
these findings are promising, regenerating healthy brain tissue will
require production of multiple cell types, rather than only neurons,
said Dr. Zhang.

Looking for a way to spur this "multipotent" regeneration, Dr. Zhang and
his colleagues used a genetic engineering technique in adult mouse brains
to induce astrocytes, a subset of glia, to produce different transcription factors, proteins pivotal for controlling cell identity. These experiments showed that a single transcription factor -- a protein known as DLX2 -- appeared to reprogram astrocytes into neural stem-like cells capable of producing neurons and multiple subtypes of glial cells.

The researchers confirmed these findings both using a technique called
lineage tracing, in which they followed progeny of the altered astrocytes
as they multiplied, as well as marker analysis that showed that these
new cells had the expected identities of neurons or glia. Working
with the team of co- corresponding author Gary Hon, Ph.D., Assistant
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and in the Cecil H. and Ida Green
Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences and the Lyda Hill Department
of Bioinformatics, global gene expression analysis showed that prompting astrocytes to produce DLX2 appeared to reprogram them into stem-like cells
with features of both immature brain cells found earlier in development
and cells found in the regenerative niches of the adult brain.

Dr. Zhang and his colleagues suggest that DLX2 might someday be used
as a tool to treat traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and degenerative conditions such as Huntington's disease. Researchers in the Zhang lab
are planning to study this approach in animal models.

Current UT Southwestern researchers who contributed to this study include Sergio Cananzi, Lei-Lei Wang, and Yuhua Zou. Other participants include
co-lead authors Boxun Li, now at Duke University; Yunjia Zhang, now
at the Beijing Genomics Institute, China; Chuanhui Han, now at Peking University, China; and Yang-Xin Fu, now at Tsinghua University, China.

This research was supported by funding from The Welch Foundation (I-1724
and I- 1926-20170325), the Decherd Foundation, the Texas Alzheimer's
Research and Care Consortium (TARCC2020), the Kent Waldrep Foundation
Center for Basic Research on Nerve Growth and Regeneration, the National Institutes of Health (NS099073, NS092616, NS111776, NS117065, NS088095, DP2GM128203, and UM1HG011996), the Cancer Prevention Research Institute
of Texas (CPRIT) (RR140023 and RP190451), the Department of Defense
(PR172060), the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (1019804), the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Green Center for Reproductive
Biology.

Dr. Zhang is a W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research at UT Southwestern. Dr. Hon is a CPRIT Scholar.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by UT_Southwestern_Medical_Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yunjia Zhang, Boxun Li, Sergio Cananzi, Chuanhui Han, Lei-Lei
Wang, Yuhua
Zou, Yang-Xin Fu, Gary C. Hon, Chun-Li Zhang. A single factor
elicits multilineage reprogramming of astrocytes in the adult
mouse striatum.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (11)
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2107339119 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220308102848.htm

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