Interestingly, Ascl1/Lmx1a/Nurr1 converts intact striatal OPCs into mainly GABAergic and some glutamatergic, but not dopaminergic neurons.192 On the other hand, direct reprogramming of striatal astrocytes into dopaminergic neurons has been achieved recently by priming the environment with an injury and adding a microRNA.194 Ascl1/Lmx1a/NeuroD1 together with miR218 convert striatal astrocytes into dopaminergic neurons, which resume dopaminergic transmission and even partially recover functional deficits in a PD mouse model. Here, ASCL1 is linked to Parkinson disease.