Scientific Resources

Pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the capability of differentiating into different lineages based on specific environmental cues. We had previously shown that hESCs can be primed to differentiate into either neurons or glial cells,depending on the arrangement,geometry and size of their substrate topography. In particular,anisotropically patterned substrates like gratings were found to favour the differentiation of hESCs into neurons rather than glial cells. In this study,our aim is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of topography-induced differentiation of hESCs towards neuronal lineages. We show that high actomyosin contractility induced by a nano-grating topography is crucial for neuronal maturation. Treatment of cells with the myosin II inhibitor (blebbistatin) and myosin light chain kinase inhibitor (ML-7) greatly reduces the expression level of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2). On the other hand,our qPCR array results showed that PAX5,BRN3A and NEUROD1 were highly expressed in hESCs grown on nano-grating substrates as compared to unpatterned substrates,suggesting the possible involvement of these genes in topography-mediated neuronal differentiation of hESCs. Interestingly,YAP was localized to the cytoplasm of differentiating hESCs. Taken together,our study has provided new insights in understanding the mechanotransduction of topographical cues during neuronal differentiation of hESCs. View Publication

Hypothalamic neurons orchestrate many essential physiological and behavioral processes via secreted neuropeptides,and are relevant to human diseases such as obesity,narcolepsy and infertility. We report the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into many of the major types of neuropeptidergic hypothalamic neurons,including those producing pro-opiolemelanocortin,agouti-related peptide,hypocretin/orexin,melanin-concentrating hormone,oxytocin,arginine vasopressin,corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) or thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Hypothalamic neurons can be generated using a 'self-patterning' strategy that yields a broad array of cell types,or via a more reproducible directed differentiation approach. Stem cell-derived human hypothalamic neurons share characteristic morphological properties and gene expression patterns with their counterparts in vivo,and are able to integrate into the mouse brain. These neurons could form the basis of cellular models,chemical screens or cellular therapies to study and treat common human diseases. View Publication

The effort and cost of obtaining neurons for large-scale screens has limited drug discovery in neuroscience. To overcome these obstacles,we fabricated arrays of releasable polystyrene micro-rafts to generate thousands of uniform,mobile neuron mini-cultures. These mini-cultures sustain synaptically-active neurons which can be easily transferred,thus increasing screening throughput by textgreater30-fold. Compared to conventional methods,micro-raft cultures exhibited significantly improved neuronal viability and sample-to-sample consistency. We validated the screening utility of these mini-cultures for both mouse neurons and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons by successfully detecting disease-related defects in synaptic transmission and identifying candidate small molecule therapeutics. This affordable high-throughput approach has the potential to transform drug discovery in neuroscience. View Publication

There is an urgent need for new and advanced approaches to modeling the pathological mechanisms of complex human neurological disorders. This is underscored by the decline in pharmaceutical research and development efficiency resulting in a relative decrease in new drug launches in the last several decades. Induced pluripotent stem cells represent a new tool to overcome many of the shortcomings of conventional methods,enabling live human neural cell modeling of complex conditions relating to aberrant neurodevelopment,such as schizophrenia,epilepsy and autism as well as age-associated neurodegeneration. This review considers the current status of induced pluripotent stem cell-based modeling of neurological disorders,canvassing proven and putative advantages,current constraints,and future prospects of next-generation culture systems for biomedical research and translation. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based technologies offer an unprecedented opportunity to perform high-throughput screening of novel drugs for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Such screenings require a robust and scalable method for generating large numbers of mature,differentiated neuronal cells. Currently available methods based on differentiation of embryoid bodies (EBs) or directed differentiation of adherent culture systems are either expensive or are not scalable. We developed a protocol for large-scale generation of neuronal stem cells (NSCs)/early neural progenitor cells (eNPCs) and their differentiation into neurons. Our scalable protocol allows robust and cost-effective generation of NSCs/eNPCs from iPSCs. Following culture in neurobasal medium supplemented with B27 and BDNF,NSCs/eNPCs differentiate predominantly into vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) positive neurons. Targeted mass spectrometry analysis demonstrates that iPSC-derived neurons express ligand-gated channels and other synaptic proteins and whole-cell patch-clamp experiments indicate that these channels are functional. The robust and cost-effective differentiation protocol described here for large-scale generation of NSCs/eNPCs and their differentiation into neurons paves the way for automated high-throughput screening of drugs for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. View Publication

Nature Communications 6,(2015). doi:10.1038/ncomms6999 View Publication

Monge's disease,also known as chronic mountain sickness (CMS),is a disease that potentially threatens more than 140 million highlanders during extended time living at high altitudes (over 2500m). The prevalence of CMS in Andeans is about 15-20%,suggesting that the majority of highlanders (non-CMS) are rather healthy at high altitudes; however,CMS subjects experience severe hypoxemia,erythrocytosis and many neurologic manifestations including migraine,headache,mental fatigue,confusion,and memory loss. The underlying mechanisms of CMS neuropathology are not well understood and no ideal treatment is available to prevent or cure CMS,except for phlebotomy. In the current study,we reprogrammed fibroblast cells from both CMS and non-CMS subjects' skin biopsies into the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),then differentiated into neurons and compared their neuronal properties. We discovered that CMS neurons were much less excitable (higher rheobase) than non-CMS neurons. This decreased excitability was not caused by differences in passive neuronal properties,but instead by a significantly lowered Na+ channel current density and by a shift of the voltage-conductance curve in the depolarization direction. Our findings provide,for the first time,evidence of a neuronal abnormality in CMS subjects as compared to non-CMS subjects,hoping that such studies can pave the way to a better understanding of the neuropathology in CMS. View Publication

Human sensory neurons are inaccessible for functional examination,and thus little is known about the mechanisms mediating touch sensation in humans. Here we demonstrate that the mechanosensitivity of human embryonic stem (hES) cell-derived touch receptors depends on PIEZO2. To recapitulate sensory neuron development in vitro,we established a multistep differentiation protocol and generated sensory neurons via the intermediate production of neural crest cells derived from hES cells or human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells. The generated neurons express a distinct set of touch receptor-specific genes and convert mechanical stimuli into electrical signals,their most salient characteristic in vivo. Strikingly,mechanosensitivity is lost after CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PIEZO2 gene deletion. Our work establishes a model system that resembles human touch receptors,which may facilitate mechanistic analysis of other sensory subtypes and provide insight into developmental programs underlying sensory neuron diversity. View Publication

OBJECTIVE Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a group of inherited peripheral neuropathies associated with mutations or copy number variations in over 70 genes encoding proteins with fundamental roles in the development and function of Schwann cells and peripheral axons. Here,we used iPSC-derived cells to identify common pathophysiological mechanisms in axonal CMT. METHODS iPSC lines from patients with two distinct forms of axonal CMT (CMT2A and CMT2E) were differentiated into spinal cord motor neurons and used to study axonal structure and function and electrophysiological properties in vitro. RESULTS iPSC-derived motor neurons exhibited gene and protein expression,ultrastructural and electrophysiological features of mature primary spinal cord motor neurons. Cytoskeletal abnormalities were found in neurons from a CMT2E (NEFL) patient and corroborated by a mouse model of the same NEFL point mutation. Abnormalities in mitochondrial trafficking were found in neurons derived from this patient,but were only mildly present in neurons from a CMT2A (MFN2) patient. Novel electrophysiological abnormalities,including reduced action potential threshold and abnormal channel current properties were observed in motor neurons derived from both of these patients. INTERPRETATION Human iPSC-derived motor neurons from axonal CMT patients replicated key pathophysiological features observed in other models of MFN2 and NEFL mutations,including abnormal cytoskeletal and mitochondrial dynamics. Electrophysiological abnormalities found in axonal CMT iPSC-derived human motor neurons suggest that these cells are hyperexcitable and have altered sodium and calcium channel kinetics. These findings may provide a new therapeutic target for this group of heterogeneous inherited neuropathies. View Publication

Advances in cellular reprogramming and stem cell differentiation now enable ex vivo studies of human neuronal differentiation. However,it remains challenging to elucidate the underlying regulatory programs because differentiation protocols are laborious and often result in low neuron yields. Here,we overexpressed two Neurogenin transcription factors in human-induced pluripotent stem cells and obtained neurons with bipolar morphology in 4 days,at greater than 90% purity. The high purity enabled mRNA and microRNA expression profiling during neurogenesis,thus revealing the genetic programs involved in the rapid transition from stem cell to neuron. The resulting cells exhibited transcriptional,morphological and functional signatures of differentiated neurons,with greatest transcriptional similarity to prenatal human brain samples. Our analysis revealed a network of key transcription factors and microRNAs that promoted loss of pluripotency and rapid neurogenesis via progenitor states. Perturbations of key transcription factors affected homogeneity and phenotypic properties of the resulting neurons,suggesting that a systems-level view of the molecular biology of differentiation may guide subsequent manipulation of human stem cells to rapidly obtain diverse neuronal types. View Publication

An increasing number of genetic variants have been implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs),and the functional study of such variants will be critical for the elucidation of autism pathophysiology. Here,we report a de novo balanced translocation disruption of TRPC6,a cation channel,in a non-syndromic autistic individual. Using multiple models,such as dental pulp cells,induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neuronal cells and mouse models,we demonstrate that TRPC6 reduction or haploinsufficiency leads to altered neuronal development,morphology and function. The observed neuronal phenotypes could then be rescued by TRPC6 complementation and by treatment with insulin-like growth factor-1 or hyperforin,a TRPC6-specific agonist,suggesting that ASD individuals with alterations in this pathway may benefit from these drugs. We also demonstrate that methyl CpG binding protein-2 (MeCP2) levels affect TRPC6 expression. Mutations in MeCP2 cause Rett syndrome,revealing common pathways among ASDs. Genetic sequencing of TRPC6 in 1041 ASD individuals and 2872 controls revealed significantly more nonsynonymous mutations in the ASD population,and identified loss-of-function mutations with incomplete penetrance in two patients. Taken together,these findings suggest that TRPC6 is a novel predisposing gene for ASD that may act in a multiple-hit model. This is the first study to use iPSC-derived human neurons to model non-syndromic ASD and illustrate the potential of modeling genetically complex sporadic diseases using such cells.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication,11 November 2014; doi:10.1038/mp.2014.141. View Publication

For years,our ability to study pathological changes in neurological diseases has been hampered by the lack of relevant models until the recent groundbreaking work from Yamanaka's group showing that it is feasible to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from human somatic cells and to redirect the fate of these iPSCs into differentiated cells. In particular,much interest has focused on the ability to differentiate human iPSCs into neuronal progenitors and functional neurons for relevance to a large number of pathologies including mental retardation and behavioral or degenerative syndromes. Current differentiation protocols are time-consuming and generate limited amounts of cells,hindering use on a large scale. We describe a feeder-free method relying on the use of a chemically defined medium that overcomes the need for embryoid body formation and neuronal rosette isolation for neuronal precursors and terminally differentiated neuron production. Four days after induction,expression of markers of the neurectoderm lineage is detectable. Between 4 and 7 days,neuronal precursors can be expanded,frozen,and thawed without loss of proliferation and differentiation capacities or further differentiated. Terminal differentiation into the different subtypes of mature neurons found in the human brain were observed. At 6-35 days after induction,cells express typical voltage-gated and ionotrophic receptors for GABA,glycine,and acetylcholine. This specific and efficient single-step strategy in a chemically defined medium allows the production of mature neurons in 20-40 days with multiple applications,especially for modeling human pathologies. View Publication