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The Path from Skin to Brain: Generation of Functional Neurons from Fibroblasts

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Abstract

Cell fate reprogramming makes possible the generation of new cell types from healthy adult cells to replace those lost or damaged in disease. Additionally, reprogramming patient cells into specific cell types allows for drug screening and the development of new therapeutic tools. Generation of new neurons is of particular interest because of the potential to treat diseases of the nervous system, such as neurodegenerative disorders and spinal cord injuries, with cell replacement therapy. Recent advances in cell fate reprogramming have led to the development of novel methods for the direct conversion of fibroblasts into neurons and neural stem cells. This review will highlight the advantages of these new methods over neuronal induction from embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as outline the limitations and the potential for future applications.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by New York State Department of Health, C026878 (A. P.), the Ellison Medical Foundation (T. S.), an award from the Hirschl/Weill-Caulier Trust (T. S.), and an R01-MH083680 grant from the NIH/NIMH (T. S.).

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  1. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, Box 60, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Aisha Iman Abdullah, Andrew Pollock & Tao Sun

  2. Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, Box 60, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Aisha Iman Abdullah, Andrew Pollock & Tao Sun

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  1. Aisha Iman Abdullah
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  2. Andrew Pollock
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Correspondence to Tao Sun.

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Abdullah, A.I., Pollock, A. & Sun, T. The Path from Skin to Brain: Generation of Functional Neurons from Fibroblasts. Mol Neurobiol 45, 586–595 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-012-8277-6

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