Direct Reprogramming of Astrocytes into Functional Serotonergic Neurons

Serotonergic neurons project widely in the central nervous system and regulate a variety of behaviors. Obtaining induced serotonergic neurons (iSNs) iscritical for disease modeling, drug screening and cell therapy. Here, we found that a combination of transcription factors Ascl1, Nkx2.2, Gata2, Foxa2, and Lmx1b could convert postnatal astrocytes into functional serotonergic neurons. We further found that the iSNs expressed serotonergic...