Induction of Pluripotency in Astrocytes through a Neural Stem Cell-like State

It remains controversial whether the routes from somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are related to the reverse order of normal developmental processes. Specifically, it remains unaddressed whether or not the differentiated cells become iPSCs through their original tissue stem cell-like state. Previous studies analyzing the reprogramming process mostly used fibroblasts; however, the stem cell characteristics of fibroblasts made it difficult to address this. Here, we generated iPSCs from mouse astrocytes, a type of glial cells, by three (OCT3/4, KLF4, and SOX2), two (OCT3/4 and KLF4), or four (OCT3/4, KLF4, and SOX2 plus c-MYC) factors. Sox1, a neural stem cell (NSC)-specific transcription factor, is transiently up-regulated during reprogramming, and Sox1-positive cells become iPSCs. The up-regulation of Sox1 is essential for OCT3/4- and KLF4-induced reprogramming. Genome-wide analysis revealed that the gene expression profile of Sox1-expressing intermediate-state cells resembles that of NSCs. Furthermore, the intermediate-state cells are able to generate neurospheres, which can differentiate into both neurons and glial cells. Remarkably, during fibroblast reprogramming, neither Sox1 up-regulation nor an increase in neurogenic potential occurs. Our results thus demonstrate that astrocytes are reprogrammed through an NSC-like state.