• astrocita
• astrocyte
• astroglia
• caderina
• cadherin
• direct reprogramming
• ECM
• extra cellular matrix
• fibronectin
• fibronectina
• IKVAV
• matrice extracellulare RGD
• neuron
• neurone
• nuclear shrinkage
• reprogramming

Direct lineage reprogramming allows the conversion of one cell into another without passing through an intermediate multipotent state. Nowadays, with the overexpression of several key fate determinants is possible to generate specific neuron subtypes from astroglial cells. However, several aspects of the mechanism underlying this transdifferentiation remain unclear and the efficiency of in vitro reprogramming quite low. Here we try to improve the viability of reprogrammed cells by testing different adhesive molecules (ECM and cell junction components and mimetic compounds). Moreover, the astrocytes that undergo reprogramming show, in the first 7 days post viral infection (d.p.i.), a nuclear shrinkage reflected in a reduction of the nuclear projected area and an increase of nuclear staining intensity. Our tests using inhibitors of the acto-myosin contraction, fundamental for the tensions underlying the nuclear shrinkage, suggest that the nuclear size reduction is escorted by a cell body area contraction and is fundamental for the reprogramming itself.