PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Xiaohu Wei
AU  - Zhenhao Zhang
AU  - Huan-huan Zeng
AU  - Xue-Feng Wang
AU  - Wenrong Zhan
AU  - Na Qiao
AU  - Zhen Chang
AU  - Lu Liu
AU  - Chengyu Fan
AU  - Ziwei Yang
AU  - Xiaoming Li
AU  - Yang Yang
AU  - Hongjun Liu
TI  - Regeneration of Functional Retinal Ganglion Cells by Neuronal Identity Reprogramming
AID  - 10.1101/2020.07.16.203497
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.07.16.203497
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/17/2020.07.16.203497.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/17/2020.07.16.203497.full
AB  - Degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons underlies vision loss in glaucoma and various optic neuropathies. There are currently no treatments available to restore lost vision in patients affected by these diseases. Regenerating RGCs and reconnecting the retina to the brain represent an ideal therapeutic strategy; however, mammals do not have a reservoir of retinal stem/progenitor cells poised to produce new neurons in adulthood. Here, we regenerated RGCs in adult mice by direct lineage reprogramming of retinal interneurons. We successfully converted amacrine and displaced amacrine interneurons into RGCs, and observed that regenerated RGCs projected axons into brain retinorecipient areas. They convey visual information to the brain in response to visual stimulation, and are able to transmit electrical signals to postsynaptic neurons, in both normal animals and in a diseased model. The generation of functional RGCs in adult mammals points to a therapeutic strategy for vision restoration in patients.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.