Autofluorescence is a biomarker of neural stem cell activation state.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) must exit quiescence to produce neurons; however, our understanding of this process remains constrained by the technical limitations of current technologies. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of autofluorescent metabolic cofactors has been used in other cell types to study shifts in cell states driven by metabolic remodeling that change the optical properties of these endogenous fluorophores. Using this non-destructive, live-cell, and label-free strategy, we found that quiescent NSCs (qNSCs) and activated NSCs (aNSCs) have unique autofluorescence profiles.

Age-maintained human neurons demonstrate a developmental loss of intrinsic neurite growth ability.

Injury to adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) axons results in limited regeneration. Rodent studies have revealed a developmental switch in CNS axon regenerative ability, yet whether this is conserved in humans is unknown. Using human fibroblasts from 8 gestational-weeks to 72 years-old, we performed direct reprogramming to transdifferentiate fibroblasts into induced neurons (Fib-iNs), avoiding pluripotency which restores cells to an embryonic state.