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Neural rosettes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have been claimed to be a highly robust in vitro cellular model for biomedical application. They are able to propagate in vitro in the presence of mitogens,including basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF). However,these two mitogens are also involved in anterior-posterior patterning in a gradient dependent manner along the neural tube axis. Here,we compared the regional identity of neural rosette cells and specific neural subtypes of their progeny propagated with low and high concentrations of bFGF and EGF. We observed that low concentrations of bFGF and EGF in the culturing system were able to induce forebrain identity of the neural rosettes and promote subsequent cortical neuronal differentiation. On the contrary,high concentrations of these mitogens stimulate a mid-hindbrain fate of the neural rosettes,resulting in subsequent cholinergic neuron differentiation. Thus,our results indicate that different concentrations of bFGF and EGF supplemented during propagation of neural rosettes are involved in altering the identity of the resultant neural cells. View Publication

Vascularization of engineered human skin constructs is crucial for recapitulation of systemic drug delivery and for their long-term survival,functionality,and viable engraftment. In this study,the latest microfabrication techniques are used and a novel bioengineering approach is established to micropattern spatially controlled and perfusable vascular networks in 3D human skin equivalents using both primary and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived endothelial cells. Using 3D printing technology makes it possible to control the geometry of the micropatterned vascular networks. It is verified that vascularized human skin equivalents (vHSEs) can form a robust epidermis and establish an endothelial barrier function,which allows for the recapitulation of both topical and systemic delivery of drugs. In addition,the therapeutic potential of vHSEs for cutaneous wounds on immunodeficient mice is examined and it is demonstrated that vHSEs can both promote and guide neovascularization during wound healing. Overall,this innovative bioengineering approach can enable in vitro evaluation of topical and systemic drug delivery as well as improve the potential of engineered skin constructs to be used as a potential therapeutic option for the treatment of cutaneous wounds. View Publication

Mutations within the FUS gene (Fused in Sarcoma) are known to cause Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS),a neurodegenerative disease affecting upper and lower motoneurons. The FUS gene codes for a multifunctional RNA/DNA-binding protein that is primarily localized in the nucleus and is involved in cellular processes such as splicing,translation,mRNA transport and DNA damage response. In this study,we analyzed pathophysiological alterations associated with ALS related FUS mutations (mFUS) in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and hiPSC derived motoneurons. To that end,we compared cells carrying a mild or severe mFUS in physiological- and/or stress conditions as well as after induced DNA damage. Following hyperosmolar stress or irradiation,mFUS hiPS cells recruited significantly more cytoplasmatic FUS into stress granules accompanied by impaired DNA-damage repair. In motoneurons wild-type FUS was localized in the nucleus but also deposited as small punctae within neurites. In motoneurons expressing mFUS the protein was additionally detected in the cytoplasm and a significantly increased number of large,densely packed FUS positive stress granules were seen along neurites. The amount of FUS mislocalization correlated positively with both the onset of the human disease (the earlier the onset the higher the FUS mislocalization) and the maturation status of the motoneurons. Moreover,even in non-stressed post-mitotic mFUS motoneurons clear signs of DNA-damage could be detected. In summary,we found that the susceptibility to cell stress was higher in mFUS hiPSCs and hiPSC derived motoneurons than in controls and the degree of FUS mislocalization correlated well with the clinical severity of the underlying ALS related mFUS. The accumulation of DNA damage and the cellular response to DNA damage stressors was more pronounced in post-mitotic mFUS motoneurons than in dividing hiPSCs suggesting that mFUS motoneurons accumulate foci of DNA damage,which in turn might be directly linked to neurodegeneration. View Publication

Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors mediate high efficiency gene editing in induced pluripotent stem cells without needing a designer nuclease thereby avoiding off-target cleavage. Because of their large cloning capacity of 37 kb,helper-dependent adenoviral vectors with long homology arms are used for gene editing. However,this makes vector construction and recombinant analysis difficult. Conversely,insufficient homology may compromise targeting efficiency. Thus,we investigated the effect of homology length on helper-dependent adenoviral vector targeting efficiency at the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator locus in induced pluripotent stem cells and found a positive correlation. With 23.8 and 21.4 kb of homology,the frequencies of targeted recombinants were 50-64.6% after positive selection for vector integration,and 97.4-100% after negative selection against random integrations. With 14.8 kb,the frequencies were 26.9-57.1% after positive selection and 87.5-100% after negative selection. With 9.6 kb,the frequencies were 21.4 and 75% after positive and negative selection,respectively. With only 5.6 kb,the frequencies were 5.6-16.7% after positive selection and 50% after negative selection,but these were more than high enough for efficient identification and isolation of targeted clones. Furthermore,we demonstrate helper-dependent adenoviral vector-mediated footprintless correction of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator mutations through piggyBac excision of the selectable marker. However,low frequencies (≤ 1 × 10(-3)) necessitated negative selection for piggyBac-excision product isolation. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provide new possibilities for regenerative therapies. In order for this potential to be achieved,it is critical to efficiently monitor the differentiation of these hiPSCs into specific lineages. Here,we describe a lentiviral reporter vector sensitive to specific microRNAs (miRNA) to show that a single vector bearing multiple miRNA target sequences conjugated to different reporters can be used to monitor hiPSC formation and subsequent differentiation from human fetal fibroblasts (HFFs). The reporter vector encodes EGFP conjugated to the targets of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) specific miRNAs (miR-302a and miR-302d) and mCherry conjugated to the targets of differentiated cells specific miRNAs (miR-142-3p,miR-155,and miR-223). The vector was used to track reprogramming of HFF to iPSC. HFFs co-transduced with this reporter vector and vectors encoding 4 reprogramming factors (OCT4,SOX2,KLF4 and cMYC) were mostly positive for EGFP (67%) at an early stage of hiPSC formation. EGFP expression gradually disappeared and mCherry expression increased indicating less miRNAs specific to differentiated cells and expression of miRNAs specific to hESCs. Upon differentiation of the hiPSC into embryoid bodies,a large fraction of these hiPSCs regained EGFP expression and some of those cells became single positive for EGFP. Further differentiation into neural lineages showed distinct structures demarcated by either EGFP or mCherry expression. These findings demonstrate that a miRNA dependent reporter vector can be a useful tool to monitor living cells during reprogramming of hiPSC and subsequent differentiation to lineage specific cells. View Publication

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a human premature aging disorder associated with neurological and developmental abnormalities,caused by mutations mainly in the CS group B gene (ERCC6). At the molecular level,CS is characterized by a deficiency in the transcription-couple DNA repair pathway. To understand the role of this molecular pathway in a pluripotent cell and the impact of CSB mutation during human cellular development,we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from CSB skin fibroblasts (CSB-iPSC). Here,we showed that the lack of functional CSB does not represent a barrier to genetic reprogramming. However,iPSCs derived from CSB patient's fibroblasts exhibited elevated cell death rate and higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Moreover,these cellular phenotypes were accompanied by an up-regulation of TXNIP and TP53 transcriptional expression. Our findings suggest that CSB modulates cell viability in pluripotent stem cells,regulating the expression of TP53 and TXNIP and ROS production. View Publication

UNLABELLED Among the known genetic risk factors for Parkinson disease,mutations in GBA1,the gene responsible for the lysosomal disorder Gaucher disease,are the most common. This genetic link has directed attention to the role of the lysosome in the pathogenesis of parkinsonism. To study how glucocerebrosidase impacts parkinsonism and to evaluate new therapeutics,we generated induced human pluripotent stem cells from four patients with Type 1 (non-neuronopathic) Gaucher disease,two with and two without parkinsonism,and one patient with Type 2 (acute neuronopathic) Gaucher disease,and differentiated them into macrophages and dopaminergic neurons. These cells exhibited decreased glucocerebrosidase activity and stored the glycolipid substrates glucosylceramide and glucosylsphingosine,demonstrating their similarity to patients with Gaucher disease. Dopaminergic neurons from patients with Type 2 and Type 1 Gaucher disease with parkinsonism had reduced dopamine storage and dopamine transporter reuptake. Levels of α-synuclein,a protein present as aggregates in Parkinson disease and related synucleinopathies,were selectively elevated in neurons from the patients with parkinsonism or Type 2 Gaucher disease. The cells were then treated with NCGC607,a small-molecule noninhibitory chaperone of glucocerebrosidase identified by high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry structure optimization. This compound successfully chaperoned the mutant enzyme,restored glucocerebrosidase activity and protein levels,and reduced glycolipid storage in both iPSC-derived macrophages and dopaminergic neurons,indicating its potential for treating neuronopathic Gaucher disease. In addition,NCGC607 reduced α-synuclein levels in dopaminergic neurons from the patients with parkinsonism,suggesting that noninhibitory small-molecule chaperones of glucocerebrosidase may prove useful for the treatment of Parkinson disease. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Because GBA1 mutations are the most common genetic risk factor for Parkinson disease,dopaminergic neurons were generated from iPSC lines derived from patients with Gaucher disease with and without parkinsonism. These cells exhibit deficient enzymatic activity,reduced lysosomal glucocerebrosidase levels,and storage of glucosylceramide and glucosylsphingosine. Lines generated from the patients with parkinsonism demonstrated elevated levels of α-synuclein. To reverse the observed phenotype,the neurons were treated with a novel noninhibitory glucocerebrosidase chaperone,which successfully restored glucocerebrosidase activity and protein levels and reduced glycolipid storage. In addition,the small-molecule chaperone reduced α-synuclein levels in dopaminergic neurons,indicating that chaperoning glucocerebrosidase to the lysosome may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for both Parkinson disease and neuronopathic forms of Gaucher disease. View Publication

Accurate modeling of human neuronal cell biology has been a long-standing challenge. However,methods to differentiate human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to neurons have recently provided experimentally tractable cell models. Numerous methods that use small molecules to direct iPSCs into neuronal lineages have arisen in recent years. Unfortunately,these methods entail numerous challenges,including poor efficiency,variable cell type heterogeneity,and lengthy,expensive differentiation procedures. We recently developed a new method to generate stable transgenic lines of human iPSCs with doxycycline-inducible transcription factors at safe-harbor loci. Using a simple two-step protocol,these lines can be inducibly differentiated into either cortical (i3 Neurons) or lower motor neurons (i3 LMN) in a rapid,efficient,and scalable manner (Wang et al.,2017). In this manuscript,we describe a set of protocols to assist investigators in the culture and genetic engineering of iPSC lines to enable transcription factor-mediated differentiation of iPSCs into i3 Neurons or i3 LMNs,and we present neuronal culture conditions for various experimental applications. {\textcopyright} 2018 by John Wiley & Sons,Inc. View Publication

Nonhuman primate (NHP) models are more predictive than rodent models for developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based cell therapy,but robust and reproducible NHP iPSC-cardiomyocyte differentiation protocols are lacking for cardiomyopathies research. We developed a method to differentiate integration-free rhesus macaque iPSCs (RhiPSCs) into cardiomyocytes with {\textgreater}85{\%} purity in 10 days,using fully chemically defined conditions. To enable visualization of intracellular calcium flux in beating cardiomyocytes,we used CRISPR/Cas9 to stably knock-in genetically encoded calcium indicators at the rhesus AAVS1 safe harbor locus. Rhesus cardiomyocytes derived by our stepwise differentiation method express signature cardiac markers and show normal electrochemical coupling. They are responsive to cardiorelevant drugs and can be successfully engrafted in a mouse myocardial infarction model. Our approach provides a powerful tool for generation of NHP iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes amenable to utilization in basic research and preclinical studies,including in vivo tissue regeneration models and drug screening. View Publication

The recently identified GGGGCC repeat expansion in the noncoding region of C9ORF72 is the most common pathogenic mutation in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We generated a human neuronal model and investigated the pathological phenotypes of human neurons containing GGGGCC repeat expansions. Skin biopsies were obtained from two subjects who had textgreater1,000 GGGGCC repeats in C9ORF72 and their respective fibroblasts were used to generate multiple induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. After extensive characterization,two iPSC lines from each subject were selected,differentiated into postmitotic neurons,and compared with control neurons to identify disease-relevant phenotypes. Expanded GGGGCC repeats exhibit instability during reprogramming and neuronal differentiation of iPSCs. RNA foci containing GGGGCC repeats were present in some iPSCs,iPSC-derived human neurons and primary fibroblasts. The percentage of cells with foci and the number of foci per cell appeared to be determined not simply by repeat length but also by other factors. These RNA foci do not seem to sequester several major RNA-binding proteins. Moreover,repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation products were detected in human neurons with GGGGCC repeat expansions and these neurons showed significantly elevated p62 levels and increased sensitivity to cellular stress induced by autophagy inhibitors. Our findings demonstrate that key neuropathological features of FTD/ALS with GGGGCC repeat expansions can be recapitulated in iPSC-derived human neurons and also suggest that compromised autophagy function may represent a novel underlying pathogenic mechanism. View Publication

The first step in developing regenerative medicine approaches to treat renal diseases using pluripotent stem cells must be the generation of intermediate mesoderm (IM),an embryonic germ layer that gives rise to kidneys. In order to achieve this goal,establishing an efficient,stable and low-cost method for differentiating IM cells using small molecules is required. In this study,we identified two retinoids,AM580 and TTNPB,as potent IM inducers by high-throughput chemical screening,and established rapid (five days) and efficient (80% induction rate) IM differentiation from human iPSCs using only two small molecules: a Wnt pathway activator,CHIR99021,combined with either AM580 or TTNPB. The resulting human IM cells showed the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types that constitute adult kidneys,and to form renal tubule-like structures. These small molecule differentiation methods can bypass the mesendoderm step,directly inducing IM cells by activating Wnt,retinoic acid (RA),and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathways. Such methods are powerful tools for studying kidney development and may potentially provide cell sources to generate renal lineage cells for regenerative therapy. View Publication

The fatal motor neuron (MN) disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by progressive degeneration of the phrenic MNs (phMNs) controlling the activity of the diaphragm,leading to death by respiratory failure. Human experimental models to study phMNs are lacking,hindering the understanding of the mechanisms of phMN degeneration in ALS. Here,we describe a protocol to derive phrenic-like MNs from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-phMNs) within 30 days. During spinal cord development,phMNs emerge from specific MN progenitors located in the dorsalmost MN progenitor (pMN) domain at cervical levels,under the control of a ventral-to-dorsal gradient of Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling and a rostro-caudal gradient of retinoic acid (RA). The method presented here uses optimized concentrations of RA and the SHH agonist purmorphamine,followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) of the resulting MN progenitor cells (MNPCs) based on a cell-surface protein (IGDCC3) enriched in hiPSC-phMNs. The resulting cultures are highly enriched in MNs expressing typical phMN markers. This protocol enables the generation of hiPSC-phMNs and is highly reproducible using several hiPSC lines,offering a disease-relevant system to study mechanisms of respiratory MN dysfunction. While the protocol has been validated in the context of ALS research,it can be adopted to study human phrenic MNs in other research fields where these neurons are of interest. View Publication