TY - JOUR T1 - Ptbp1 deletion does not induce glia-to-neuron conversion in adult mouse retina and brain JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.10.04.462784 SP - 2021.10.04.462784 AU - Thanh Hoang AU - Dong Won Kim AU - Haley Appel AU - Nicole A. Pannullo AU - Manabu Ozawa AU - Sika Zheng AU - Minzhong Yu AU - Neil S. Peachey AU - Juhyun Kim AU - Seth Blackshaw Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/05/2021.10.04.462784.abstract N2 - Somatic reprogramming of glia into neurons is a potentially promising approach for the replacement of neurons lost to injury or neurodegenerative disorders. Knockdown of the polypyrimidine tract-binding protein Ptbp1 has been recently reported to induce efficient conversion of retinal Mϋller glia and brain astrocytes into functional neurons. However, genetic analysis of Ptbp1 function in adult glia has not been conducted. Here, we use a combination of genetic lineage tracing, scRNA-Seq, and electrophysiological analysis to show that specific deletion of Ptbp1 in adult retinal Mϋller glia and brain astrocytes does not lead to any detectable level of glia-to-neuron conversion. Few changes in gene expression are observed in glia following Ptbp1 deletion, but glial identity is maintained. These findings highlight the importance of using genetic manipulation and lineage tracing methods in studying cell type conversion.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -