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Pediatric-onset ataxias often present clinically as developmental delay and intellectual disability,with prominent cerebellar atrophy as a key neuroradiographic finding. Here we describe a new clinically distinguishable recessive syndrome in 12 families with cerebellar atrophy together with ataxia,coarsened facial features and intellectual disability,due to truncating mutations in the sorting nexin gene SNX14,encoding a ubiquitously expressed modular PX domain-containing sorting factor. We found SNX14 localized to lysosomes and associated with phosphatidylinositol (3,5)-bisphosphate,a key component of late endosomes/lysosomes. Patient-derived cells showed engorged lysosomes and a slower autophagosome clearance rate upon autophagy induction by starvation. Zebrafish morphants for snx14 showed dramatic loss of cerebellar parenchyma,accumulation of autophagosomes and activation of apoptosis. Our results characterize a unique ataxia syndrome due to biallelic SNX14 mutations leading to lysosome-autophagosome dysfunction. View Publication

For diseases of the brain,the pig (Sus scrofa) is increasingly being used as a model organism that shares many anatomical and biological similarities with humans. We report that pig induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can recapitulate events in early mammalian neural development. Pig iPSC line (POU5F1(high)/SSEA4(low)) had a higher potential to form neural rosettes (NR) containing neuroepithelial cells than either POU5F1(low)/SSEA4(low) or POU5F1(low)/SSEA4(high) lines. Thus,POU5F1 and SSEA4 pluripotency marker profiles in starting porcine iPSC populations can predict their propensity to form more robust NR populations in culture. The NR were isolated and expanded in vitro,retaining their NR morphology and neuroepithelial molecular properties. These cells expressed anterior central nervous system fate markers OTX2 and GBX2 through at least seven passages,and responded to retinoic acid,promoting a more posterior fate (HOXB4+,OTX2-,and GBX2-). These findings offer insight into pig iPSC development,which parallels the human iPSC in both anterior and posterior neural cell fates. These in vitro similarities in early neural differentiation processes support the use of pig iPSC and differentiated neural cells as a cell therapy in allogeneic porcine neural injury and degeneration models,providing relevant translational data for eventual human neural cell therapies. View Publication

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by chronic and progressive structural or functional loss of neurons. Limitations related to the animal models of these human diseases have impeded the development of effective drugs. This emphasizes the need to establish disease models using human-derived cells. The discovery of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology has provided novel opportunities in disease modeling,drug development,screening,and the potential for patient-matched" cellular therapies in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study� View Publication

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive disease characterized by the loss of upper and lower motor neurons,leading to paralysis of voluntary muscles. About 10% of all ALS cases are familial (fALS),among which 15-20% are linked to Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) mutations,usually inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. To date only one FDA approved drug is available which increases survival moderately. Our understanding of ALS disease mechanisms is largely derived from rodent model studies,however due to the differences between rodents and humans,it is necessary to have humanized models for studies of disease pathogenesis as well as drug development. Therefore,we generated a comprehensive library of a total 22 of fALS patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. These cells were thoroughly characterized before being deposited into the library. The library of cells includes a variety of C9orf72 mutations,sod1 mutations,FUS,ANG and FIG4 mutations. Certain mutations are represented with more than one line,which allows for studies of variable genetic backgrounds. In addition,these iPSCs can be successfully differentiated to astroglia,a cell type known to play a critical role in ALS disease progression. This library represents a comprehensive resource that can be used for ALS disease modeling and the development of novel therapeutics. View Publication

Here we describe a protocol to generate a co-culture consisting of 2 different neuronal populations. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are reprogrammed from human fibroblasts using episomal vectors. Colonies of iPSCs can be observed 30 days after initiation of fibroblast reprogramming. Pluripotent colonies are manually picked and grown in neural induction medium to permit differentiation into neural progenitor cells (NPCs). iPSCs rapidly convert into neuroepithelial cells within 1 week and retain the capability to self-renew when maintained at a high culture density. Primary mouse NPCs are differentiated into astrocytes by exposure to a serum-containing medium for 7 days and form a monolayer upon which embryonic day 18 (E18) rat cortical neurons (transfected with channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)) are added. Human NPCs tagged with the fluorescent protein,tandem dimer Tomato (tdTomato),are then seeded onto the astrocyte/cortical neuron culture the following day and allowed to differentiate for 28 to 35 days. We demonstrate that this system forms synaptic connections between iPSC-derived neurons and cortical neurons,evident from an increase in the frequency of synaptic currents upon photostimulation of the cortical neurons. This co-culture system provides a novel platform for evaluating the ability of iPSC-derived neurons to create synaptic connections with other neuronal populations. View Publication

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by chronic recurrent episodes of depression and mania. Despite evidence for high heritability of BD,little is known about its underlying pathophysiology. To develop new tools for investigating the molecular and cellular basis of BD,we applied a family-based paradigm to derive and characterize a set of 12 induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from a quartet consisting of two BD-affected brothers and their two unaffected parents. Initially,no significant phenotypic differences were observed between iPSCs derived from the different family members. However,upon directed neural differentiation,we observed that CXCR4 (CXC chemokine receptor-4) expressing central nervous system (CNS) neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from both BD patients compared with their unaffected parents exhibited multiple phenotypic differences at the level of neurogenesis and expression of genes critical for neuroplasticity,including WNT pathway components and ion channel subunits. Treatment of the CXCR4(+) NPCs with a pharmacological inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase 3,a known regulator of WNT signaling,was found to rescue a progenitor proliferation deficit in the BD patient NPCs. Taken together,these studies provide new cellular tools for dissecting the pathophysiology of BD and evidence for dysregulation of key pathways involved in neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity. Future generation of additional iPSCs following a family-based paradigm for modeling complex neuropsychiatric disorders in conjunction with in-depth phenotyping holds promise for providing insights into the pathophysiological substrates of BD and is likely to inform the development of targeted therapeutics for its treatment and ideally prevention. View Publication

The role of intermediate methylation states in DNA is unclear. Here,to comprehensively identify regions of intermediate methylation and their quantitative relationship with gene activity,we apply integrative and comparative epigenomics to 25 human primary cell and tissue samples. We report 18,452 intermediate methylation regions located near 36% of genes and enriched at enhancers,exons and DNase I hypersensitivity sites. Intermediate methylation regions average 57% methylation,are predominantly allele-independent and are conserved across individuals and between mouse and human,suggesting a conserved function. These regions have an intermediate level of active chromatin marks and their associated genes have intermediate transcriptional activity. Exonic intermediate methylation correlates with exon inclusion at a level between that of fully methylated and unmethylated exons,highlighting gene context-dependent functions. We conclude that intermediate DNA methylation is a conserved signature of gene regulation and exon usage. View Publication

The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has an important role in neuronal survival through binding to the GFRα1 (GDNF family receptor alpha-1) receptor and activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase Ret. Transient brain ischemia alters the expression of the GDNF signaling machinery but whether the GDNF receptor proteins are also affected,and the functional consequences,have not been investigated. We found that excitotoxic stimulation of cultured hippocampal neurons leads to a calpain-dependent downregulation of the long isoform of Ret (Ret51),but no changes were observed for Ret9 or GFRα1 under the same conditions. Cleavage of Ret51 by calpains was selectively mediated by activation of the extrasynaptic pool of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and leads to the formation of a stable cleavage product. Calpain-mediated cleavage of Ret51 was also observed in hippocampal neurons subjected to transient oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD),a model of global brain ischemia,as well as in the ischemic region in the cerebral cortex of mice exposed to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Although the reduction of Ret51 protein levels decreased the total GDNF-induced receptor activity (as determined by assessing total phospho-Ret51 protein levels) and their downstream signaling activity,the remaining receptors still showed an increase in phosphorylation after incubation of hippocampal neurons with GDNF. Furthermore,GDNF protected hippocampal neurons when present before,during or after OGD,and the effects under the latter conditions were more significant in neurons transfected with human Ret51. These results indicate that the loss of Ret51 in brain ischemia partially impairs the neuroprotective effects of GDNF. 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

To address existing limitations in live neuron imaging,we have developed NeuO,a novel cell-permeable fluorescent probe with an unprecedented ability to label and image live neurons selectively over other cells in the brain. NeuO enables robust live neuron imaging and isolation in vivo and in vitro across species; its versatility and ease of use sets the basis for its development in a myriad of neuronal targeting applications. View Publication