Neurod1 mediates the reprogramming of NG2 glial into neurons in vitro

Neuronal defect and loss are the main pathological processes of many central nervous system diseases. Cellular reprogramming is a promising method to supplement lost neurons. However, study on cellular reprogramming is still limited and its mechanism remains unclear. Herein, the effect of Neurod1 expression on differentiation of NG2 glia into neurons was investigated. In this study, we successfully isolated NG2 glial cells from mice prior to identification with immunofluorescence. Afterwards, AAV-Neurod1 virus was used to construct Neurod1 overexpression vectors in NG2 glia. Later, we detected neuronal markers expression with immunofluorescence and real time quantitative polymerase-chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Besides, expression of MAPK-signaling-pathway-related proteins were detected by western blotting technique. Through immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR techniques, we observed that Neurod1 overexpression contributed to NG2 cells differentiated into neurons. Further experiments also showed that Neurod1 overexpression induced the activation of MAPK pathway, but PD98059 (a selective inhibitor of MAPK pathway) partly inhibited the neuronal differentiation induced by Neurod1 overexpression. These findings suggest that Neurod1 could promote NG2 glia cells differentiating into neurons, wherein the mechanism under the differentiation is related to activation of MAPK pathway.