T cells can be converted into neurons

In a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper, a Stanford University team described a method to directly convert human blood-derived T cells into functional neurons. The new method could facilitate patient-derived cell-based studies of neurological diseases.

Patient-derived induced neurons are most commonly generated by reprogramming fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are subsequently converted into neurons in a labor-intensive process...