TY - JOUR T1 - Cortical Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein-Positive Cells Generate Neurons after Perinatal Hypoxic Injury JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 9205 LP - 9221 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0518-11.2011 VL - 31 IS - 25 AU - Baoyuan Bi AU - Natalina Salmaso AU - Mila Komitova AU - Maria V. Simonini AU - John Silbereis AU - Elise Cheng AU - Janice Kim AU - Suzannah Luft AU - Laura R. Ment AU - Tamas L. Horvath AU - Michael L. Schwartz AU - Flora M. Vaccarino Y1 - 2011/06/22 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/25/9205.abstract N2 - Glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive (GFAP+) cells give rise to new neurons in the neurogenic niches; whether they are able to generate neurons in the cortical parenchyma is not known. Here, we use genetic fate mapping to examine the progeny of GFAP+ cells after postnatal hypoxia, a model for the brain injury observed in premature children. After hypoxia, immature cortical astroglia underwent a shift toward neuronal fate and generated cortical excitatory neurons that appeared synaptically integrated into the circuitry. Fate-mapped cortical GFAP+ cells derived ex vivo from hypoxic, but not normoxic, mice were able to form pluripotent, long-term self-renewing neurospheres. Similarly, exposure to low oxygen conditions in vitro induced stem-cell-like potential in immature cortical GFAP+ cells. Our data support the conclusion that hypoxia promotes pluripotency in GFAP+ cells in the cortical parenchyma. Such plasticity possibly explains the cognitive recovery found in some preterm children. ER -