[Inducing brain regeneration from within: in vivo reprogramming of endogenous somatic cells into neurons]

In order to overcome the quasi-total inability of the mammalian central nervous system to regenerate in response to injuries, and in parallel to the studies dedicated to prevent neuronal loss under these circumstances, alternative approaches based on the programming of pluripotent cells or the reprogramming of somatic cells into neurons have recently emerged. These uniquely combine growing knowledge of the mechanisms that underlie neurogenesis and neuronal specification during development to the most recent findings of the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms that govern the acquisition and maintenance of cellular identity. Here, we discuss the possibility to instruct the regeneration of the central nervous system from within for therapeutic purposes, in light of the recent works reporting on the generation of neurons by direct conversion of various cerebral cell types in vitro and in vivo.