Trichostatin A Promotes the Conversion of Astrocytes to Oligodendrocyte Progenitors in a Defined Culture Medium

Document Type: Research article

Authors

1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology at Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Developmental Biology, University of Science and Culture, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.

4 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The generation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) offers tremendous opportunities for cell replacement therapy in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and spinal cord injury. Recently, the prospect of reprogramming terminally differentiated adult cells towards another mature somatic cell or progenitor cells without an intermediate pluripotent state has been of interest. Trichostatin A is a histone deacetylase inhibitor which opens the chromatin and facilitates the transcription of silence genes. In this study, we have treated human astrocytes line U87 and primary culture of mouse astrocytes with TSA for 12 hours, prior their transfer to OPC induction medium. Then we evaluated the morphology and the fate of the treated astrocytes at post-treatment days. Both cell lines acquired OPC morphology and expressed OPC specific markers. Following transfer to differentiation medium, U87-derived iOPCs differentiated to oligodendrocyte like cells and expressed PLP as a mature oligodendrocyte marker. Our results introduce TSA as an inducer for production of OPCs from astrocytes and can be considered a potential way for the treatment of demyelinating diseases.

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Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Volume 18, Issue 1
Winter 2019
Pages 286-295

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