Efficient Conversion of Spermatogonial Stem Cells to Phenotypic and Functional Dopaminergic Neurons via the PI3K/Akt and P21/Smurf2/Nolz1 Pathway

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by loss of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Generation of functional dopaminergic (DA) neurons is of unusual significance for treating Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, direct conversion of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) to functional DA neurons without being reprogrammed to a pluripotent status has not been achieved. Here, we report an efficient approach to obtain morphological, phenotypic, and functional DA neurons from SSCs using a specific combination of olfactory ensheathing cell-conditioned medium (OECCM) and several defined growth factors (DGF). By following the current protocol, direct conversion of SSCs (both SSC line and primary SSCs) to neural cells and DA neurons was demonstrated by expression of numerous phenotypic genes and proteins for neural cells, as well as cell morphological features. More significantly, SSCs-derived DA neurons acquired neuronal functional properties such as synapse formation, electrophysiology activity, and dopamine secretion. Furthermore, PI3K/Akt pathway and p21/Nolz1 cascades were activated whereas Smurf2 was inactivated, leading to cell cycle exit during the conversion of SSCs into DA neurons. Collectively, this study could provide sufficient neural cells from SSCs for applications in the treatment of PD and offers novel insights into mechanisms underlying neural system development from the line of germ cells.