Single transcription factor conversion of human blood fate to NPCs with CNS and PNS developmental capacity

Direct cell fate conversion allows the generation of somatic cells that are otherwise difficult to obtain directly from patients. The clinical applicability of this approach depends on obtaining an initial source of somatic cells from adult patients that is easy to harvest, store, and manipulate for reprogramming. Here we have generated induced neural progenitor cells (iNPCs) from neonatal as well as peripheral blood from human adults using single factor OCT4 based reprogramming. Unlike fibroblasts that share molecular hallmarks of neural crest, direct OCT4 reprogramming of human blood could be facilitated by SMAD+GSK-3 inhibition to overcome restrictions on neural fate conversion. Blood derived (BD)-iNPCs functionally differentiate in vivo, and respond to guided differentiation in vitro to produce both glia (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) and multiple neuronal subtypes including dopamine releasing DA neurons (CNS related) and nociceptive neurons (PNS). Furthermore, BD nociceptive neurons phenocopy chemotherapy induced neurotoxicity in a system suitable for high throughput drug screening. Our findings provide an easily accessible approach to generate human NPCs that harbor extensive developmental potential, enabling the study of clinically relevant neural diseases directly from patient cohorts.

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Lee JH, Mitchell RR, McNicol JD, Shapovalova Z, Laronde S, Tanasijevic B, Milsom C, Casado F, Fiebig-Comyn A, Collins TJ, Singh KK, Bhatia M