技术资料

Schizophrenia has been defined as a neurodevelopmental disease that causes changes in the process of thoughts,perceptions,and emotions,usually leading to a mental deterioration and affective blunting. Studies have shown altered cell respiration and oxidative stress response in schizophrenia; however,most of the knowledge has been acquired from postmortem brain analyses or from nonneural cells. Here we describe that neural cells,derived from induced pluripotent stem cells generated from skin fibroblasts of a schizophrenic patient,presented a twofold increase in extramitochondrial oxygen consumption as well as elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS),when compared to controls. This difference in ROS levels was reverted by the mood stabilizer valproic acid. Our model shows evidence that metabolic changes occurring during neurogenesis are associated with schizophrenia,contributing to a better understanding of the development of the disease and highlighting potential targets for treatment and drug screening. View Publication

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a progressive neurologic disorder representing one of the most common causes of mental retardation in females. To date mutations in three genes have been associated with this condition. Classic RTT is caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene,whereas variants can be due to mutations in either MECP2 or FOXG1 or CDKL5. Mutations in CDKL5 have been identified both in females with the early onset seizure variant of RTT and in males with X-linked epileptic encephalopathy. CDKL5 is a kinase protein highly expressed in neurons,but its exact function inside the cell is unknown. To address this issue we established a human cellular model for CDKL5-related disease using the recently developed technology of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs can be expanded indefinitely and differentiated in vitro into many different cell types,including neurons. These features make them the ideal tool to study disease mechanisms directly on the primarily affected neuronal cells. We derived iPSCs from fibroblasts of one female with p.Q347X and one male with p.T288I mutation,affected by early onset seizure variant and X-linked epileptic encephalopathy,respectively. We demonstrated that female CDKL5-mutated iPSCs maintain X-chromosome inactivation and clones express either the mutant CDKL5 allele or the wild-type allele that serve as an ideal experimental control. Array CGH indicates normal isogenic molecular karyotypes without detection of de novo CNVs in the CDKL5-mutated iPSCs. Furthermore,the iPS cells can be differentiated into neurons and are thus suitable to model disease pathogenesis in vitro. View Publication

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable neuromuscular disease that leads to a profound loss of life quality and premature death. Around 10% of the cases are inherited and ALS8 is an autosomal dominant form of familial ALS caused by mutations in the vamp-associated protein B/C (VAPB) gene. The VAPB protein is involved in many cellular processes and it likely contributes to the pathogenesis of other forms of ALS besides ALS8. A number of successful drug tests in ALS animal models could not be translated to humans underscoring the need for novel approaches. The induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) technology brings new hope,since it can be used to model and investigate diseases in vitro. Here we present an additional tool to study ALS based on ALS8-iPSC. Fibroblasts from ALS8 patients and their non-carrier siblings were successfully reprogrammed to a pluripotent state and differentiated into motor neurons. We show for the first time that VAPB protein levels are reduced in ALS8-derived motor neurons but,in contrast to over-expression systems,cytoplasmic aggregates could not be identified. Our results suggest that optimal levels of VAPB may play a central role in the pathogenesis of ALS8,in agreement with the observed reduction of VAPB in sporadic ALS. View Publication

By providing access to affected neurons,human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSc) offer a unique opportunity to model human neurodegenerative diseases. We generated human iPSc from the skin fibroblasts of children with mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB. In this fatal lysosomal storage disease,defective α-N-acetylglucosaminidase interrupts the degradation of heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans and induces cell disorders predominating in the central nervous system,causing relentless progression toward severe mental retardation. Partially digested proteoglycans,which affect fibroblast growth factor signaling,accumulated in patient cells. They impaired isolation of emerging iPSc unless exogenous supply of the missing enzyme cleared storage and restored cell proliferation. After several passages,patient iPSc starved of an exogenous enzyme continued to proliferate in the presence of fibroblast growth factor despite HS accumulation. Survival and neural differentiation of patient iPSc were comparable with unaffected controls. Whereas cell pathology was modest in floating neurosphere cultures,undifferentiated patient iPSc and their neuronal progeny expressed cell disorders consisting of storage vesicles and severe disorganization of Golgi ribbons associated with modified expression of the Golgi matrix protein GM130. Gene expression profiling in neural stem cells pointed to alterations of extracellular matrix constituents and cell-matrix interactions,whereas genes associated with lysosome or Golgi apparatus functions were downregulated. Taken together,these results suggest defective responses of patient undifferentiated stem cells and neurons to environmental cues,which possibly affect Golgi organization,cell migration and neuritogenesis. This could have potential consequences on post-natal neurological development,once HS proteoglycan accumulation becomes prominent in the affected child brain. View Publication

Somatic cell nuclear transfer,cell fusion,or expression of lineage-specific factors have been shown to induce cell-fate changes in diverse somatic cell types. We recently observed that forced expression of a combination of three transcription factors,Brn2 (also known as Pou3f2),Ascl1 and Myt1l,can efficiently convert mouse fibroblasts into functional induced neuronal (iN) cells. Here we show that the same three factors can generate functional neurons from human pluripotent stem cells as early as 6 days after transgene activation. When combined with the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor NeuroD1,these factors could also convert fetal and postnatal human fibroblasts into iN cells showing typical neuronal morphologies and expressing multiple neuronal markers,even after downregulation of the exogenous transcription factors. Importantly,the vast majority of human iN cells were able to generate action potentials and many matured to receive synaptic contacts when co-cultured with primary mouse cortical neurons. Our data demonstrate that non-neural human somatic cells,as well as pluripotent stem cells,can be converted directly into neurons by lineage-determining transcription factors. These methods may facilitate robust generation of patient-specific human neurons for in vitro disease modelling or future applications in regenerative medicine. View Publication

Pluripotent stem cells can be genetically labeled to facilitate differentiation studies. In this paper,we describe a gene-targeting protocol to knock in a GFP cassette into key gene loci in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs),and then use the genetically tagged hPSCs to guide in vitro differentiation,immunocytochemical and electrophysiological profiling and in vivo characterization after cell transplantation. The Olig transcription factors have key roles in the transcription regulatory pathways for the genesis of motor neurons (MNs) and oligodendrocytes (OLs). We have generated OLIG2-GFP hPSC reporter lines that reliably mark MNs and OLs for monitoring their sequential differentiation from hPSCs. The expression of the GFP reporter recapitulates the endogenous expression of OLIG genes. The in vitro characterization of fluorescence-activated cell sorting-purified cells is consistent with cells of the MN or OL lineages,depending on the stages at which they are collected. This protocol is efficient and reliable and usually takes 5-7 months to complete. The genetic tagging-differentiation methodology used herein provides a general framework for similar work for differentiation of hPSCs into other lineages. View Publication

Genetic reprogramming of human somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could offer replenishable cell sources for transplantation therapies. To fulfill their promises,human iPSCs will ideally be free of exogenous DNA (footprint-free),and be derived and cultured in chemically defined media free of feeder cells. Currently,methods are available to enable efficient derivation of footprint-free human iPSCs. However,each of these methods has its limitations. We have previously derived footprint-free human iPSCs by employing episomal vectors for transgene delivery,but the process was inefficient and required feeder cells. Here,we have greatly improved the episomal reprogramming efficiency using a cocktail containing MEK inhibitor PD0325901,GSK3β inhibitor CHIR99021,TGF-β/Activin/Nodal receptor inhibitor A-83-01,ROCK inhibitor HA-100 and human leukemia inhibitory factor. Moreover,we have successfully established a feeder-free reprogramming condition using chemically defined medium with bFGF and N2B27 supplements and chemically defined human ESC medium mTeSR1 for the derivation of footprint-free human iPSCs. These improvements enabled the routine derivation of footprint-free human iPSCs from skin fibroblasts,adipose tissue-derived cells and cord blood cells. This technology will likely be valuable for the production of clinical-grade human iPSCs. View Publication

Little is known about how neural stem cells are formed initially during development. We investigated whether a default mechanism of neural specification could regulate acquisition of neural stem cell identity directly from embryonic stem (ES) cells. ES cells cultured in defined,low-density conditions readily acquire a neural identity. We characterize a novel primitive neural stem cell as a component of neural lineage specification that is negatively regulated by TGFbeta-related signaling. Primitive neural stem cells have distinct growth factor requirements,express neural precursor markers,generate neurons and glia in vitro,and have neural and non-neural lineage potential in vivo. These results are consistent with a default mechanism for neural fate specification and support a model whereby definitive neural stem cell formation is preceded by a primitive neural stem cell stage during neural lineage commitment. View Publication

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are clonal cell lines derived from the inner cell mass of the developing blastocyst that can proliferate extensively in vitro and are capable of adopting all the cell fates in a developing embryo. Clinical interest in the use of ES cells has been stimulated by studies showing that isolated human cells with ES properties from the inner cell mass or developing germ cells can provide a source of somatic precursors. Previous studies have defined in vitro conditions for promoting the development of specific somatic fates,specifically,hematopoietic,mesodermal,and neurectodermal. In this study,we present a method for obtaining dopaminergic (DA) and serotonergic neurons in high yield from mouse ES cells in vitro. Furthermore,we demonstrate that the ES cells can be obtained in unlimited numbers and that these neuron types are generated efficiently. We generated CNS progenitor populations from ES cells,expanded these cells and promoted their differentiation into dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the presence of mitogen and specific signaling molecules. The differentiation and maturation of neuronal cells was completed after mitogen withdrawal from the growth medium. This experimental system provides a powerful tool for analyzing the molecular mechanisms controlling the functions of these neurons in vitro and in vivo,and potentially for understanding and treating neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. View Publication

We have previously identified multipotent neuroepithelial (NEP) stem cells and lineage-restricted,self-renewing precursor cells termed NRPs (neuron-restricted precursors) and GRPs (glial-restricted precursors) present in the developing rat spinal cord (A. Kalyani,K. Hobson,and M. S. Rao,1997,Dev. Biol. 186,202-223; M. S. Rao and M. Mayer-Proschel,1997,Dev. Biol. 188,48-63; M. Mayer-Proschel,A. J. Kalyani,T. Mujtaba,and M. S. Rao,1997,Neuron 19,773-785). We now show that cells identical to rat NEPs,NRPs,and GRPs are present in mouse neural tubes and that immunoselection against cell surface markers E-NCAM and A2B5 can be used to isolate NRPs and GRPs,respectively. Restricted precursors similar to NRPs and GRPs can also be isolated from mouse embryonic stem cells (ES cells). ES cell-derived NRPs are E-NCAM immunoreactive,undergo self-renewal in defined medium,and differentiate into multiple neuronal phenotypes in mass culture. ES cells also generate A2B5-immunoreactive cells that are similar to E9 NEP-cell-derived GRPs and can differentiate into oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. Thus,lineage restricted precursors can be generated in vitro from cultured ES cells and these restricted precursors resemble those derived from mouse neural tubes. These results demonstrate the utility of using ES cells as a source of late embryonic precursor cells. View Publication