Induced Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells of Astrocytic Origin to Motor Neurons in the Rat

Destruction of the motor neurons will lead to loss of innervation of the somatic muscle, which has long been considered an illness with no remedy. The only possible treatment is to substitute the injured motor neurons by neurons differentiated from stem cells. It has been recently reported that embryonic stems cells can be induced to differentiate to motor neurons. However, the use of embryonic stem cells has innate problems. The ideal source of motor neurons should be the cells from the patients themselves, which have the potential to be induced to motor neurons. Our previous study demonstrated that mature astrocyte has the potential of being dedifferentiated to neural stem cell. The present study was aimed to investigate if the neural stem cells of astrocytic origin can be induced to motor neurons. The results demonstrated that neural stem cells of astrocytic origin could be induced to differentiate into motor neurons and their progenitor cells with rich harvest. Further, it has been reported that astrocytes can be readily obtained via biopsy from the cerebral cortex of the patient, rendering autologous transplantation possible. In conclusion, matured astrocytes can be induced to motor neurons and be autologously transplanted to patients suffering from motor neuron destruction.