May 26, 2025
Keio University
Fujita Health University
A group of researchers, including Professor Hideyuki Okano, Director of the Keio University Regenerative Medicine Research Center (KRM) (Guest Professor, Department of Neuroregeneration and Drug Discovery, Center for elucidation of the pathomechanisms of mental and neurological disorders, Fujita Health University); Project Assistant Professor Yoichi Saito of the Keio Frontier Research & Education Collaborative Square (K-FRECS) [K-FRECS at Tonomachi]; and Lecturer Mitsuru Ishikawa of the Department of Neuroregeneration and Drug Discovery, Center for elucidation of the pathomechanisms of mental and neurological disorders, Fujita Health University (Project Lecturer, Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine at the time of the research), has developed a new technology to convert blood cells into neurons in a petri dish by introducing a specific set of genes. This study utilizes a method called partial reprogramming, which involves introducing the bHLH-type transcription factor NEUROD1, involved in neural differentiation, and the four genes used to establish iPS cells (OCT3/4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC) into peripheral blood T-cells. As a result, it has become possible to produce glutamatergic neurons in a short period of about 20 days.
Previously known methods for direct neuronal induction primarily used skin fibroblasts, which required skin incision and suturing for cell collection. However, this new method allows for the acquisition of cellular material through only a blood draw, which is less invasive, thereby significantly reducing the burden on donors. This technology is expected to be a novel method for artificially creating cells that can lead to regenerative medicine, as it enables the creation of cell models that can reproduce the pathology of neurological diseases without going through the process of completely reprogramming somatic cells, as is done with iPS cells.
The results of this research were published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [PNAS] on April 28, 2025 (U.S. Eastern Time).
For the full press release, please see below.