{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T10:43:51Z","timestamp":1770806631374,"version":"3.50.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["82171059"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82171059"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["82371064"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82371064"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The purpose of our study is to explore the potential of a transcription factor-based strategy for directly converting mouse fibroblasts into photoreceptor-like cells. The mouse cDNAs of Ascl, Crx, Ngn1, Nrl, and Otx2 were cloned into a modified commercial adenoviral vector. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were isolated from E13.5 embryos, and mouse postnatal fibroblasts (MPFs) were isolated from three-day-old mice. A pool of adenoviruses containing five genes was prepared to infect MEFs or MPFs once daily for two days. The MEFs or MPFs were incubated in a specific medium supplemented with forskolin and were changed every two days. After 7 or 14 days, the photoreceptor-like cells were assayed via immunofluorescence or polymerase chain reaction with reverse transcription (RT\u2013PCR). The photoreceptor-like cells were then transplanted into adult C57BL\/6 mouse retinas and were assessed by immunofluorescence 14 days following transplantation. Screening from a pool of five candidate genes, we reported that a combination of only three factors\u2014Crx, Nrl, and Otx2\u2014was sufficient to convert mouse embryonic and postnatal fibroblasts into photoreceptor-like cells. The induced photoreceptor-like cells expressed photoreceptor-specific proteins such as Recoverin, Rhodopsin, and Opsin and integrated into the outer nuclear layer of the retina following transplantation. This exploratory study provides preliminary evidence that fibroblasts can be directly converted into photoreceptor-like cells, suggesting a cellular model and potential source for future transplantation strategies aimed at retinal repair.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells15040320","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T10:45:31Z","timestamp":1770633931000},"page":"320","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Direct Conversion of Mouse Fibroblasts into Photoreceptor-like Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5454-5848","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jia","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University First Hospital, No 1, Xi\u2019anmen Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China"},{"name":"Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sam","family":"Enayati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6283-8843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dong Feng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianwei","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4450-8642","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University First Hospital, No 1, Xi\u2019anmen Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"689","DOI":"10.1016\/S1350-9462(98)00032-9","article-title":"Mechanisms of photoreceptor death and survival in mammalian retina","volume":"18","author":"Stone","year":"1999","journal-title":"Prog. 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