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Amniotic Fluid Stem Cells: A Novel Source for Modeling of Human Genetic Diseases. Int J Mol Sci 2016; 17:ijms17040607. [PMID: 27110774 PMCID: PMC4849058 DOI: 10.3390/ijms17040607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 04/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, great interest has been devoted to the use of Induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPS) for modeling of human genetic diseases, due to the possibility of reprogramming somatic cells of affected patients into pluripotent cells, enabling differentiation into several cell types, and allowing investigations into the molecular mechanisms of the disease. However, the protocol of iPS generation still suffers from technical limitations, showing low efficiency, being expensive and time consuming. Amniotic Fluid Stem cells (AFS) represent a potential alternative novel source of stem cells for modeling of human genetic diseases. In fact, by means of prenatal diagnosis, a number of fetuses affected by chromosomal or Mendelian diseases can be identified, and the amniotic fluid collected for genetic testing can be used, after diagnosis, for the isolation, culture and differentiation of AFS cells. This can provide a useful stem cell model for the investigation of the molecular basis of the diagnosed disease without the necessity of producing iPS, since AFS cells show some features of pluripotency and are able to differentiate in cells derived from all three germ layers “in vitro”. In this article, we describe the potential benefits provided by using AFS cells in the modeling of human genetic diseases.
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102
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Sabapathy V, Kumar S. hiPSC-derived iMSCs: NextGen MSCs as an advanced therapeutically active cell resource for regenerative medicine. J Cell Mol Med 2016; 20:1571-88. [PMID: 27097531 PMCID: PMC4956943 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.12839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are being assessed for ameliorating the severity of graft‐versus‐host disease, autoimmune conditions, musculoskeletal injuries and cardiovascular diseases. While most of these clinical therapeutic applications require substantial cell quantities, the number of MSCs that can be obtained initially from a single donor remains limited. The utility of MSCs derived from human‐induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) has been shown in recent pre‐clinical studies. Since adult MSCs have limited capability regarding proliferation, the quantum of bioactive factor secretion and immunomodulation ability may be constrained. Hence, the alternate source of MSCs is being considered to replace the commonly used adult tissue‐derived MSCs. The MSCs have been obtained from various adult and foetal tissues. The hiPSC‐derived MSCs (iMSCs) are transpiring as an attractive source of MSCs because during reprogramming process, cells undergo rejuvination, exhibiting better cellular vitality such as survival, proliferation and differentiations potentials. The autologous iMSCs could be considered as an inexhaustible source of MSCs that could be used to meet the unmet clinical needs. Human‐induced PSC‐derived MSCs are reported to be superior when compared to the adult MSCs regarding cell proliferation, immunomodulation, cytokines profiles, microenvironment modulating exosomes and bioactive paracrine factors secretion. Strategies such as derivation and propagation of iMSCs in chemically defined culture conditions and use of footprint‐free safer reprogramming strategies have contributed towards the development of clinically relevant cell types. In this review, the role of iPSC‐derived mesenchymal stromal cells (iMSCs) as an alternate source of therapeutically active MSCs has been described. Additionally, we also describe the role of iMSCs in regenerative medical applications, the necessary strategies, and the regulatory policies that have to be enforced to render iMSC's effectiveness in translational medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikram Sabapathy
- Center for Stem Cell Research, A Unit of inStem Bengaluru, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Sanjay Kumar
- Center for Stem Cell Research, A Unit of inStem Bengaluru, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
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103
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Muotri AR. The Human Model: Changing Focus on Autism Research. Biol Psychiatry 2016; 79:642-9. [PMID: 25861701 PMCID: PMC4573784 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2014] [Revised: 03/04/2015] [Accepted: 03/11/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The lack of live human brain cells for research has slowed progress toward understanding the mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders. A human model using reprogrammed patient somatic cells offers an attractive alternative, as it captures a patient's genome in relevant cell types. Despite the current limitations, the disease-in-a-dish approach allows for progressive time course analyses of target cells, offering a unique opportunity to investigate the cellular and molecular alterations before symptomatic onset. Understanding the current drawbacks of this model is essential for the correct data interpretation and extrapolation of conclusions applicable to the human brain. Innovative strategies for collecting biological material and clinical information from large patient cohorts are important for increasing the statistical power that will allow for the extraction of information from the noise resulting from the variability introduced by reprogramming and differentiation methods. Working with large patient cohorts is also important for understanding how brain cells derived from diverse human genetic backgrounds respond to specific drugs, creating the possibility of personalized medicine for autism spectrum disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alysson Renato Muotri
- Department of Pediatrics/Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California..
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104
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Tabolacci E, Mancano G, Lanni S, Palumbo F, Goracci M, Ferrè F, Helmer-Citterich M, Neri G. Genome-wide methylation analysis demonstrates that 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine treatment does not cause random DNA demethylation in fragile X syndrome cells. Epigenetics Chromatin 2016; 9:12. [PMID: 27014370 PMCID: PMC4806452 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-016-0060-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Accepted: 03/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by CGG expansion over 200 repeats at the 5′ UTR of the FMR1 gene and subsequent DNA methylation of both the expanded sequence and the CpGs of the promoter region. This epigenetic change causes transcriptional silencing of the gene. We have previously demonstrated that 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5-azadC) treatment of FXS lymphoblastoid cell lines reactivates the FMR1 gene, concomitant with CpG sites demethylation, increased acetylation of histones H3 and H4 and methylation of lysine 4 on histone 3. Results In order to check the specificity of the 5-azadC-induced DNA demethylation, now we performed bisulphite sequencing of the entire methylation boundary upstream the FMR1 promoter region, which is preserved in control wild-type cells. We did not observe any modification of the methylation boundary after treatment. Furthermore, methylation analysis by MS-MLPA of PWS/AS and BWS/SRS loci demonstrated that 5-azadC treatment has no demethylating effect on these regions. Genome-wide methylation analysis through Infinium 450K (Illumina) showed no significant enrichment of specific GO terms in differentially methylated regions after 5-azadC treatment. We also observed that reactivation of FMR1 transcription lasts up to a month after a 7-day treatment and that maximum levels of transcription are reached at 10–15 days after last administration of 5-azadC. Conclusions Taken together, these data demonstrate that the demethylating effect of 5-azadC on genomic DNA is not random, but rather restricted to specific regions, if not exclusively to the FMR1 promoter. Moreover, we showed that 5-azadC has a long-lasting reactivating effect on the mutant FMR1 gene. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13072-016-0060-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Tabolacci
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Giorgia Mancano
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Stella Lanni
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Federica Palumbo
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Goracci
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Ferrè
- Department of Biology, Centre for Molecular Bioinformatics (CBM), University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Manuela Helmer-Citterich
- Department of Biology, Centre for Molecular Bioinformatics (CBM), University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanni Neri
- Istituto di Medicina Genomica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
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105
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Abstract
UNLABELLED Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited mental retardation, is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by silencing of the FMR1 gene, which in FXS becomes inactivated during human embryonic development. We have shown recently that this process is recapitulated by in vitro neural differentiation of FX human embryonic stem cells (FX-hESCs), derived from FXS blastocysts. In the present study, we analyzed morphological and functional properties of neurons generated from FX-hESCs. Human FX neurons can fire single action potentials (APs) to depolarizing current commands, but are unable to discharge trains of APs. Their APs are of a reduced amplitudes and longer durations than controls. These are reflected in reduced inward Na(+) and outward K(+) currents. In addition, human FX neurons contain fewer synaptic vesicles and lack spontaneous synaptic activity. Notably, synaptic activity in these neurons can be restored by coculturing them with normal rat hippocampal neurons, demonstrating a critical role for synaptic mechanisms in FXS pathology. This is the first extensive functional analysis of human FX neurons derived in vitro from hESCs that provides a convenient tool for studying molecular mechanisms underlying the impaired neuronal functions in FXS. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited mental retardation, is caused by silencing of the FMR1 gene. In this study, we describe for the first time the properties of neurons developed from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that carry the FMR1 mutation and are grown in culture for extended periods. These neurons are retarded compared with controls in several morphological and functional properties. In vitro neural differentiation of FX hESCs can thus serve as a most relevant system for the analysis of molecular mechanisms underlying the impaired neuronal functions in FXS.
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106
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Panchision DM. Concise Review: Progress and Challenges in Using Human Stem Cells for Biological and Therapeutics Discovery: Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Stem Cells 2016; 34:523-36. [PMID: 26840228 DOI: 10.1002/stem.2295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2015] [Revised: 11/29/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In facing the daunting challenge of using human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to study complex neural circuit disorders such as schizophrenia, mood and anxiety disorders, and autism spectrum disorders, a 2012 National Institute of Mental Health workshop produced a set of recommendations to advance basic research and engage industry in cell-based studies of neuropsychiatric disorders. This review describes progress in meeting these recommendations, including the development of novel tools, strides in recapitulating relevant cell and tissue types, insights into the genetic basis of these disorders that permit integration of risk-associated gene regulatory networks with cell/circuit phenotypes, and promising findings of patient-control differences using cell-based assays. However, numerous challenges are still being addressed, requiring further technological development, approaches to resolve disease heterogeneity, and collaborative structures for investigators of different disciplines. Additionally, since data obtained so far is on small sample sizes, replication in larger sample sets is needed. A number of individual success stories point to a path forward in developing assays to translate discovery science to therapeutics development.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Panchision
- Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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107
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Avior Y, Sagi I, Benvenisty N. Pluripotent stem cells in disease modelling and drug discovery. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2016; 17:170-82. [DOI: 10.1038/nrm.2015.27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 413] [Impact Index Per Article: 51.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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108
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Desmarais JA, Unger C, Damjanov I, Meuth M, Andrews P. Apoptosis and failure of checkpoint kinase 1 activation in human induced pluripotent stem cells under replication stress. Stem Cell Res Ther 2016; 7:17. [PMID: 26810087 PMCID: PMC4727355 DOI: 10.1186/s13287-016-0279-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2015] [Revised: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 01/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells have the ability to undergo self-renewal and differentiation similarly to human embryonic stem (hES) cells. We have recently shown that hES cells under replication stress fail to activate checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1). They instead commit to apoptosis, which appears to be a primary defense mechanism against genomic instability. It is not known whether the failure of CHK1 activation and activation of apoptosis under replication stress is solely a feature of hES cells, or if it is a feature that can be extended to hiPS cells. Methods Here we generated integration-free hiPS cell lines by mRNA transfection, and characterised the cell lines. To investigate the mechanism of S phase checkpoint activation, we have induced replication stress by adding excess thymidine to the cell culture medium, and performed DNA content analysis, apoptosis assays and immunoblottings. Results We are showing that hiPS cells similarly to hES cells, fail to activate CHK1 when exposed to DNA replication inhibitors and commit to apoptosis instead. Our findings also suggest the Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated pathway might be responding to DNA replication stress, resulting in apoptosis. Conclusion Together, these data suggest that the apoptotic response was properly restored during reprogramming with mRNA, and that apoptosis is an important mechanism shared by hiPS and hES cells to maintain their genomic integrity when a replication stress occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joelle A Desmarais
- Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK. .,Institute for Cancer Studies, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Sheffield, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK.
| | - Christian Unger
- Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
| | - Ivan Damjanov
- Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Hospital, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA.
| | - Mark Meuth
- Institute for Cancer Studies, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Sheffield, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK.
| | - Peter Andrews
- Centre for Stem Cell Biology, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
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109
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The Application of Human iPSCs in Neurological Diseases: From Bench to Bedside. Stem Cells Int 2016; 2016:6484713. [PMID: 26880979 PMCID: PMC4736583 DOI: 10.1155/2016/6484713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In principle, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are generated from somatic cells by reprogramming and gaining the capacity to self-renew indefinitely as well as the ability to differentiate into cells of different lineages. Human iPSCs have absolute advantages over human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and animal models in disease modeling, drug screening, and cell replacement therapy. Since Takahashi and Yamanaka first described in 2007 that iPSCs can be generated from human adult somatic cells by retroviral transduction of the four transcription factors, Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc, disease specific iPSC lines have sprung up worldwide like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, making iPSC one of the hottest and fastest moving topics in modern science. The craze for iPSCs has spread throughout main branches of clinical medicine, covering neurology, hematology, cardiology, endocrinology, hepatology, ophthalmology, and so on. Here in this paper, we will focus on the clinical application of human iPSCs in disease modeling, drug screening, and cell replacement therapy for neurological diseases.
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110
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Russo FB, Cugola FR, Fernandes IR, Pignatari GC, Beltrão-Braga PCB. Induced pluripotent stem cells for modeling neurological disorders. World J Transplant 2015; 5:209-221. [PMID: 26722648 PMCID: PMC4689931 DOI: 10.5500/wjt.v5.i4.209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Revised: 08/23/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Several diseases have been successfully modeled since the development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology in 2006. Since then, methods for increased reprogramming efficiency and cell culture maintenance have been optimized and many protocols for differentiating stem cell lines have been successfully developed, allowing the generation of several cellular subtypes in vitro. Gene editing technologies have also greatly advanced lately, enhancing disease-specific phenotypes by creating isogenic cell lines, allowing mutations to be corrected in affected samples or inserted in control lines. Neurological disorders have benefited the most from iPSC-disease modeling for its capability for generating disease-relevant cell types in vitro from the central nervous system, such as neurons and glial cells, otherwise only available from post-mortem samples. Patient-specific iPSC-derived neural cells can recapitulate the phenotypes of these diseases and therefore, considerably enrich our understanding of pathogenesis, disease mechanism and facilitate the development of drug screening platforms for novel therapeutic targets. Here, we review the accomplishments and the current progress in human neurological disorders by using iPSC modeling for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, duchenne muscular dystrophy, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders, which include Timothy syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Phelan-McDermid, Rett syndrome as well as Nonsyndromic Autism.
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111
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Bhattacharyya A, Zhao X. Human pluripotent stem cell models of Fragile X syndrome. Mol Cell Neurosci 2015; 73:43-51. [PMID: 26640241 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2015.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2015] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism. The causal mutation in FXS is a trinucleotide CGG repeat expansion in the FMR1 gene that leads to human specific epigenetic silencing and loss of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) expression. Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and particularly induced PSCs (iPSCs), offer a model system to reveal cellular and molecular events underlying human neuronal development and function in FXS. Human FXS PSCs have been established and have provided insight into the epigenetic silencing of the FMR1 gene as well as aspects of neuronal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Bhattacharyya
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
| | - Xinyu Zhao
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, United States.
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112
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Gerhardt J. Epigenetic modifications in human fragile X pluripotent stem cells; Implications in fragile X syndrome modeling. Brain Res 2015; 1656:55-62. [PMID: 26475977 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Revised: 08/18/2015] [Accepted: 10/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Patients with fragile X syndrome (FXS) exhibit moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. In addition, one-third of FXS patients show characteristics of autism spectrum disorder. FXS is caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion, which leads to silencing of the fragile X mental retardation (FMR1) gene. The absence of the FMR1 gene product, FMRP, is the reason for the disease symptoms. It has been suggested that repeat instability and transcription of the FMR1 gene occur during early embryonic development, while after cell differentiation repeats become stable and the FMR1 gene is silent. Epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, are associated with gene silencing and repeat stability at the FMR1 locus. However, the mechanisms leading to gene silencing and repeat expansion are still ambiguous, because studies at the human genomic locus were limited until now. The FXS pluripotent stem cells, recently derived from FXS adult cells and FXS blastocysts, are new useful tools to examine these mechanisms at the human endogenous FMR1 locus. This review summarizes the epigenetic features and experimental studies of FXS human embryonic and FXS induced pluripotent stem cells, generated so far. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Exploiting human neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeannine Gerhardt
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx 10461, USA.
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113
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Lefler S, Cohen MA, Kantor G, Cheishvili D, Even A, Birger A, Turetsky T, Gil Y, Even-Ram S, Aizenman E, Bashir N, Maayan C, Razin A, Reubinoff BE, Weil M. Familial Dysautonomia (FD) Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived PNS Neurons Reveal that Synaptic Vesicular and Neuronal Transport Genes Are Directly or Indirectly Affected by IKBKAP Downregulation. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0138807. [PMID: 26437462 PMCID: PMC4593545 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2014] [Accepted: 09/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A splicing mutation in the IKBKAP gene causes Familial Dysautonomia (FD), affecting the IKAP protein expression levels and proper development and function of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Here we found new molecular insights for the IKAP role and the impact of the FD mutation in the human PNS lineage by using a novel and unique human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line homozygous to the FD mutation originated by pre implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) analysis. We found that IKBKAP downregulation during PNS differentiation affects normal migration in FD-hESC derived neural crest cells (NCC) while at later stages the PNS neurons show reduced intracellular colocalization between vesicular proteins and IKAP. Comparative wide transcriptome analysis of FD and WT hESC-derived neurons together with the analysis of human brains from FD and WT 12 weeks old embryos and experimental validation of the results confirmed that synaptic vesicular and neuronal transport genes are directly or indirectly affected by IKBKAP downregulation in FD neurons. Moreover we show that kinetin (a drug that corrects IKBKAP alternative splicing) promotes the recovery of IKAP expression and these IKAP functional associated genes identified in the study. Altogether, these results support the view that IKAP might be a vesicular like protein that might be involved in neuronal transport in hESC derived PNS neurons. This function seems to be mostly affected in FD-hESC derived PNS neurons probably reflecting some PNS neuronal dysfunction observed in FD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon Lefler
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Personalized Medicine, Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, The Sagol School of Neurosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Malkiel A Cohen
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Gal Kantor
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Personalized Medicine, Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, The Sagol School of Neurosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - David Cheishvili
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Aviel Even
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Personalized Medicine, Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, The Sagol School of Neurosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Anastasya Birger
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tikva Turetsky
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yaniv Gil
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Sharona Even-Ram
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Einat Aizenman
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Nibal Bashir
- Department of Obstetric and Gynecology, Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Channa Maayan
- Department of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Aharon Razin
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Benjamim E Reubinoff
- The Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Miguel Weil
- Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Personalized Medicine, Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, The Sagol School of Neurosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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114
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Reversion of FMR1 Methylation and Silencing by Editing the Triplet Repeats in Fragile X iPSC-Derived Neurons. Cell Rep 2015; 13:234-41. [PMID: 26440889 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.08.084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2015] [Revised: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, resulting from a CGG repeat expansion in the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Here, we report a strategy for CGG repeat correction using CRISPR/Cas9 for targeted deletion in both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells derived from FXS patients. Following gene correction in FXS induced pluripotent stem cells, FMR1 expression was restored and sustained in neural precursor cells and mature neurons. Strikingly, after removal of the CGG repeats, the upstream CpG island of the FMR1 promoter showed extensive demethylation, an open chromatin state, and transcription initiation. These results suggest a silencing maintenance mechanism for the FMR1 promoter that is dependent on the existence of the CGG repeat expansion. Our strategy for deletion of trinucleotide repeats provides further insights into the molecular mechanisms of FXS and future therapies of trinucleotide repeat disorders.
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115
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Lim CS, Yang JE, Lee YK, Lee K, Lee JA, Kaang BK. Understanding the molecular basis of autism in a dish using hiPSCs-derived neurons from ASD patients. Mol Brain 2015; 8:57. [PMID: 26419846 PMCID: PMC4589208 DOI: 10.1186/s13041-015-0146-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social cognition, language development, and repetitive/restricted behaviors. Due to the complexity and heterogeneity of ASD and lack of a proper human cellular model system, the pathophysiological mechanism of ASD during the developmental process is largely unknown. However, recent progress in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology as well as in vitro neural differentiation techniques have allowed us to functionally characterize neurons and analyze cortical development during neural differentiation. These technical advances will increase our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of heterogeneous ASD and help identify molecular biomarkers for patient stratification as well as personalized medicine. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge of iPSC generation, differentiation of specific neuronal subtypes from iPSCs, and phenotypic characterizations of human ASD patient-derived iPSC models. Finally, we discuss the current limitations of iPSC technology and future directions of ASD pathophysiology studies using iPSCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chae-Seok Lim
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanangno 599, Seoul, Gwanak-gu, 151-747, Korea
| | - Jung-Eun Yang
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanangno 599, Seoul, Gwanak-gu, 151-747, Korea
| | - You-Kyung Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Life Science and NanoTechnology, Hannam University, Jeonmin-dong 461-6, Daejeon, Yuseong-gu, 305-811, Korea
| | - Kyungmin Lee
- Department of Anatomy, Kyungpook National University Graduate School of Medicine, Dongin-dong 2-101, Daegu, Jung-gu, 700-422, Korea
| | - Jin-A Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Life Science and NanoTechnology, Hannam University, Jeonmin-dong 461-6, Daejeon, Yuseong-gu, 305-811, Korea.
| | - Bong-Kiun Kaang
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanangno 599, Seoul, Gwanak-gu, 151-747, Korea.
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Li W, Chen S, Li JY. Human induced pluripotent stem cells in Parkinson's disease: A novel cell source of cell therapy and disease modeling. Prog Neurobiol 2015; 134:161-77. [PMID: 26408505 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2015.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Revised: 09/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/17/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are two novel cell sources for studying neurodegenerative diseases. Dopaminergic neurons derived from hiPSCs/hESCs have been implicated to be very useful in Parkinson's disease (PD) research, including cell replacement therapy, disease modeling and drug screening. Recently, great efforts have been made to improve the application of hiPSCs/hESCs in PD research. Considerable advances have been made in recent years, including advanced reprogramming strategies without the use of viruses or using fewer transcriptional factors, optimized methods for generating highly homogeneous neural progenitors with a larger proportion of mature dopaminergic neurons and better survival and integration after transplantation. Here we outline the progress that has been made in these aspects in recent years, particularly during the last year, and also discuss existing issues that need to be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen Li
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 197, Rui Jin Er Road, Shanghai 200025, China; Neural Plasticity and Repair Unit, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund University, BMC A10, 221 84 Lund, Sweden
| | - Shengdi Chen
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 197, Rui Jin Er Road, Shanghai 200025, China.
| | - Jia-Yi Li
- Institute of Neuroscience, College of Life and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; Neural Plasticity and Repair Unit, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund University, BMC A10, 221 84 Lund, Sweden.
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Hunsberger JG, Efthymiou AG, Malik N, Behl M, Mead IL, Zeng X, Simeonov A, Rao M. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Models to Enable In Vitro Models for Screening in the Central Nervous System. Stem Cells Dev 2015; 24:1852-64. [PMID: 25794298 PMCID: PMC4533087 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2014.0531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2014] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There is great need to develop more predictive drug discovery tools to identify new therapies to treat diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Current nonpluripotent stem cell-based models often utilize non-CNS immortalized cell lines and do not enable the development of personalized models of disease. In this review, we discuss why in vitro models are necessary for translational research and outline the unique advantages of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based models over those of current systems. We suggest that iPSC-based models can be patient specific and isogenic lines can be differentiated into many neural cell types for detailed comparisons. iPSC-derived cells can be combined to form small organoids, or large panels of lines can be developed that enable new forms of analysis. iPSC and embryonic stem cell-derived cells can be readily engineered to develop reporters for lineage studies or mechanism of action experiments further extending the utility of iPSC-based systems. We conclude by describing novel technologies that include strategies for the development of diversity panels, novel genomic engineering tools, new three-dimensional organoid systems, and modified high-content screens that may bring toxicology into the 21st century. The strategic integration of these technologies with the advantages of iPSC-derived cell technology, we believe, will be a paradigm shift for toxicology and drug discovery efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nasir Malik
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Mamta Behl
- National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Ivy L. Mead
- Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
| | - Xianmin Zeng
- Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, California
| | - Anton Simeonov
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rockville, Maryland
| | - Mahendra Rao
- New York Stem Cell Foundation, New York, New York
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118
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Qin Y, Gao WQ. Concise Review: Patient-Derived Stem Cell Research for Monogenic Disorders. Stem Cells 2015; 34:44-54. [DOI: 10.1002/stem.2112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2015] [Revised: 06/05/2015] [Accepted: 06/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yiren Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med-X Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine; hanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai People's Republic of China
| | - Wei-Qiang Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med-X Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine; hanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai People's Republic of China
- School of Biomedical Engineering & Med-X Research Institute; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai People's Republic of China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Systems Biomedicine; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Shanghai People's Republic of China
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Acab A, Muotri AR. The Use of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Technology to Advance Autism Research and Treatment. Neurotherapeutics 2015; 12:534-45. [PMID: 25851569 PMCID: PMC4489954 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-015-0354-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders sharing a core set of symptoms, including impaired social interaction, language deficits, and repetitive behaviors. While ASDs are highly heritable and demonstrate a clear genetic component, the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving ASD etiology remain undefined. The unavailability of live patient-specific neurons has contributed to the difficulty in studying ASD pathophysiology. The recent advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has provided the ability to generate patient-specific human neurons from somatic cells. The iPSC field has quickly grown, as researchers have demonstrated the utility of this technology to model several diseases, especially neurologic disorders. Here, we review the current literature around using iPSCs to model ASDs, and discuss the notable findings, and the promise and limitations of this technology. The recent report of a nonsyndromic ASD iPSC model and several previous ASD models demonstrating similar results points to the ability of iPSC to reveal potential novel biomarkers and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allan Acab
- School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics/Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Stem Cell Program, University of California San Diego, MC 0695, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
| | - Alysson Renato Muotri
- School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics/Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Stem Cell Program, University of California San Diego, MC 0695, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
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Yanovsky-Dagan S, Mor-Shaked H, Eiges R. Modeling diseases of noncoding unstable repeat expansions using mutant pluripotent stem cells. World J Stem Cells 2015; 7:823-838. [PMID: 26131313 PMCID: PMC4478629 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i5.823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2014] [Revised: 02/22/2015] [Accepted: 04/07/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogenic mutations involving DNA repeat expansions are responsible for over 20 different neuronal and neuromuscular diseases. All result from expanded tracts of repetitive DNA sequences (mostly microsatellites) that become unstable beyond a critical length when transmitted across generations. Nearly all are inherited as autosomal dominant conditions and are typically associated with anticipation. Pathologic unstable repeat expansions can be classified according to their length, repeat sequence, gene location and underlying pathologic mechanisms. This review summarizes the current contribution of mutant pluripotent stem cells (diseased human embryonic stem cells and patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells) to the research of unstable repeat pathologies by focusing on particularly large unstable noncoding expansions. Among this class of disorders are Fragile X syndrome and Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, myotonic dystrophy type 1 and myotonic dystrophy type 2, Friedreich ataxia and C9 related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and/or frontotemporal dementia, Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy and potentially more. Common features that are typical to this subclass of conditions are RNA toxic gain-of-function, epigenetic loss-of-function, toxic repeat-associated non-ATG translation and somatic instability. For each mechanism we summarize the currently available stem cell based models, highlight how they contributed to better understanding of the related mechanism, and discuss how they may be utilized in future investigations.
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121
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Chinchalongporn V, Koppensteiner P, Prè D, Thangnipon W, Bilo L, Arancio O. Connectivity and circuitry in a dish versus in a brain. ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY 2015; 7:44. [PMID: 26045718 PMCID: PMC4456047 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-015-0129-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
In order to understand and find therapeutic strategies for neurological disorders, disease models that recapitulate the connectivity and circuitry of patients’ brain are needed. Owing to many limitations of animal disease models, in vitro neuronal models using patient-derived stem cells are currently being developed. However, prior to employing neurons as a model in a dish, they need to be evaluated for their electrophysiological properties, including both passive and active membrane properties, dynamics of neurotransmitter release, and capacity to undergo synaptic plasticity. In this review, we survey recent attempts to study these issues in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons. Although progress has been made, there are still many hurdles to overcome before human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons can fully recapitulate all of the above physiological properties of adult mature neurons. Moreover, proper integration of neurons into pre-existing circuitry still needs to be achieved. Nevertheless, in vitro neuronal stem cell-derived models hold great promise for clinical application in neurological diseases in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vorapin Chinchalongporn
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain P&S Bldg, Room 12-420D, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, CUMC, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Research Center for Neuroscience, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhonpathom 73170 Thailand
| | - Peter Koppensteiner
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain P&S Bldg, Room 12-420D, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, CUMC, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Deborah Prè
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain P&S Bldg, Room 12-420D, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, CUMC, New York, NY 10032 USA
| | - Wipawan Thangnipon
- Research Center for Neuroscience, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhonpathom 73170 Thailand
| | - Leonilda Bilo
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain P&S Bldg, Room 12-420D, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, CUMC, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, Federico II University of Naples, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Ottavio Arancio
- Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain P&S Bldg, Room 12-420D, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032 USA ; Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, CUMC, New York, NY 10032 USA
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Madison JM, Zhou F, Nigam A, Hussain A, Barker DD, Nehme R, van der Ven K, Hsu J, Wolf P, Fleishman M, O’Dushlaine C, Rose S, Chambert K, Lau FH, Ahfeldt T, Rueckert EH, Sheridan SD, Fass DM, Nemesh J, Mullen TE, Daheron L, McCarroll S, Sklar P, Perlis RH, Haggarty SJ. Characterization of bipolar disorder patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells from a family reveals neurodevelopmental and mRNA expression abnormalities. Mol Psychiatry 2015; 20:703-17. [PMID: 25733313 PMCID: PMC4440839 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2013] [Revised: 10/29/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon M. Madison
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Correspondence: (JM), (SJH)
| | - Fen Zhou
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Aparna Nigam
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Ali Hussain
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Douglas D. Barker
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Ralda Nehme
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Karlijn van der Ven
- Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Jenny Hsu
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Pavlina Wolf
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Morgan Fleishman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Colm O’Dushlaine
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Sam Rose
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Kimberly Chambert
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Frank H. Lau
- Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
| | - Tim Ahfeldt
- Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
| | - Erroll H. Rueckert
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Steven D. Sheridan
- Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Daniel M. Fass
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - James Nemesh
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Thomas E. Mullen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Laurence Daheron
- Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
| | - Steve McCarroll
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Pamela Sklar
- Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Roy H. Perlis
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Stephen J. Haggarty
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA,Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Human Genetics Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA,Correspondence: (JM), (SJH)
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Kaufmann M, Schuffenhauer A, Fruh I, Klein J, Thiemeyer A, Rigo P, Gomez-Mancilla B, Heidinger-Millot V, Bouwmeester T, Schopfer U, Mueller M, Fodor BD, Cobos-Correa A. High-Throughput Screening Using iPSC-Derived Neuronal Progenitors to Identify Compounds Counteracting Epigenetic Gene Silencing in Fragile X Syndrome. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 20:1101-11. [PMID: 26024946 DOI: 10.1177/1087057115588287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation, and it is caused in most of cases by epigenetic silencing of the Fmr1 gene. Today, no specific therapy exists for FXS, and current treatments are only directed to improve behavioral symptoms. Neuronal progenitors derived from FXS patient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a unique model to study the disease and develop assays for large-scale drug discovery screens since they conserve the Fmr1 gene silenced within the disease context. We have established a high-content imaging assay to run a large-scale phenotypic screen aimed to identify compounds that reactivate the silenced Fmr1 gene. A set of 50,000 compounds was tested, including modulators of several epigenetic targets. We describe an integrated drug discovery model comprising iPSC generation, culture scale-up, and quality control and screening with a very sensitive high-content imaging assay assisted by single-cell image analysis and multiparametric data analysis based on machine learning algorithms. The screening identified several compounds that induced a weak expression of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and thus sets the basis for further large-scale screens to find candidate drugs or targets tackling the underlying mechanism of FXS with potential for therapeutic intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Kaufmann
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ansgar Schuffenhauer
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Isabelle Fruh
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Jessica Klein
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Anke Thiemeyer
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Pierre Rigo
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Baltazar Gomez-Mancilla
- Translational Medicine, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Valerie Heidinger-Millot
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tewis Bouwmeester
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Ulrich Schopfer
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Mueller
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Barna D Fodor
- Developmental and Molecular Pathways, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Amanda Cobos-Correa
- Center of Proteomic Chemistry, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, Basel, Switzerland
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Telias M, Ben-Yosef D. Modeling neurodevelopmental disorders using human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Rev Rep 2015; 10:494-511. [PMID: 24728983 DOI: 10.1007/s12015-014-9507-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) are impairments that affect the development and growth of the brain and the central nervous system during embryonic and early postnatal life. Genetically manipulated animals have contributed greatly to the advancement of ND research, but many of them differ considerably from the human phenotype. Cellular in vitro models are also valuable, but the availability of human neuronal cells is limited and their lifespan in culture is short. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, comprise a powerful tool for studying developmentally regulated diseases, including NDs. We reviewed all recent studies in which hPSCs were used as in vitro models for diseases and syndromes characterized by impairment of neurogenesis or synaptogenesis leading to intellectual disability and delayed neurodevelopment. We analyzed their methodology and results, focusing on the data obtained following in vitro neural differentiation and gene expression and profiling of the derived neurons. Electrophysiological recording of action potentials, synaptic currents and response to neurotransmitters is pivotal for validation of the neuronal fate as well as for assessing phenotypic dysfunctions linked to the disease in question. We therefore focused on the studies which included electrophysiological recordings on the in vitro-derived neurons. Finally, we addressed specific issues that are critical for the advancement of this area of research, specifically in providing a reliable human pre-clinical research model and drug screening platform.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Telias
- The Wolfe PGD-Stem Cell Lab, Racine IVF Unit, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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125
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Pappas A, Chaiworapongsa T, Romero R, Korzeniewski SJ, Cortez JC, Bhatti G, Gomez-Lopez N, Hassan SS, Shankaran S, Tarca AL. Transcriptomics of maternal and fetal membranes can discriminate between gestational-age matched preterm neonates with and without cognitive impairment diagnosed at 18-24 months. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0118573. [PMID: 25822971 PMCID: PMC4379164 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2014] [Accepted: 01/20/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neurocognitive impairment among children born preterm may arise from complex interactions between genes and the intra-uterine environment. OBJECTIVES (1) To characterize the transcriptomic profiles of chorioamniotic membranes in preterm neonates with and without neurocognitive impairment via microarrays and (2) to determine if neonates with neurocognitive impairment can be identified at birth. MATERIALS/METHODS A retrospective case-control study was conducted to examine the chorioamniotic transcriptome of gestational-age matched very preterm neonates with and without neurocognitive impairment at 18-24 months' corrected-age defined by a Bayley-III Cognitive Composite Score <80 (n = 14 each). Pathway analysis with down-weighting of overlapping genes (PADOG) was performed to identify KEGG pathways relevant to the phenotype. Select differentially expressed genes were profiled using qRT-PCR and a multi-gene disease prediction model was developed using linear discriminant analysis. The model's predictive performance was tested on a new set of cases and controls (n = 19 each). RESULTS 1) 117 genes were differentially expressed among neonates with and without subsequent neurocognitive impairment (p<0.05 and fold change >1.5); 2) Gene ontology analysis indicated enrichment of 19 biological processes and 3 molecular functions; 3)PADOG identified 4 significantly perturbed KEGG pathways: oxidative phosphorylation, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease (q-value <0.1); 4) 48 of 90 selected differentially expressed genes were confirmed by qRT-PCR, including genes implicated in energy metabolism, neuronal signaling, vascular permeability and response to injury (e.g., up-regulation of SEPP1, APOE, DAB2, CD163, CXCL12, VWF; down-regulation of HAND1, OSR1)(p<0.05); and 5) a multi-gene model predicted 18-24 month neurocognitive impairment (using the ratios of OSR1/VWF and HAND1/VWF at birth) in a larger, independent set (sensitivity = 74%, at specificity = 83%). CONCLUSIONS Gene expression patterns in the chorioamniotic membranes link neurocognitive impairment in preterm infants to neurodegenerative disease pathways and might be used to predict neurocognitive impairment. Further prospective studies are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athina Pappas
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AP); (AT)
| | - Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Roberto Romero
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States of America
| | - Steven J. Korzeniewski
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States of America
| | - Josef C. Cortez
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Gaurav Bhatti
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Nardhy Gomez-Lopez
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Sonia S. Hassan
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Seetha Shankaran
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
| | - Adi L. Tarca
- Perinatology Research Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development / NIH / DHHS, Bethesda, MD and Detroit, MI, United States of America
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AP); (AT)
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126
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Reprogramming patient-derived cells to study the epilepsies. Nat Neurosci 2015; 18:360-6. [PMID: 25710838 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2014] [Accepted: 01/08/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The epilepsies and related disorders of brain circuitry present significant challenges associated with the use of human cells to study disease mechanisms and develop new therapies. Some of these obstacles are being overcome through the use of induced pluripotent stem cells to obtain patient-derived neural cells for in vitro studies and as a source of cell-based treatments. The field is evolving rapidly with the addition of genome-editing approaches and expanding protocols for generating different neural cell types and three-dimensional tissues, but the application of these techniques to neurological disorders, and particularly to the epilepsies, is in its infancy. We discuss the progress made and the distinct advantages and limitations of using patient-derived cells to study or treat epilepsy, as well as critical future directions for the field.
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127
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Halevy T, Czech C, Benvenisty N. Molecular mechanisms regulating the defects in fragile X syndrome neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Reports 2015; 4:37-46. [PMID: 25483109 PMCID: PMC4297868 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2014.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2014] [Revised: 10/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is caused by the absence of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). We have previously generated FXS-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients' fibroblasts. In this study, we aimed at unraveling the molecular phenotype of the disease. Our data revealed aberrant regulation of neural differentiation and axon guidance genes in FXS-derived neurons, which are regulated by the RE-1 silencing transcription factor (REST). Moreover, we found REST to be elevated in FXS-derived neurons. As FMRP is involved in the microRNA (miRNA) pathway, we employed miRNA-array analyses and uncovered several miRNAs dysregulated in FXS-derived neurons. We found hsa-mir-382 to be downregulated in FXS-derived neurons, and introduction of mimic-mir-382 into these neurons was sufficient to repress REST and upregulate its axon guidance target genes. Our data link FMRP and REST through the miRNA pathway and show a new aspect in the development of FXS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomer Halevy
- Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Christian Czech
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research & Early Development, Neuroscience, Roche Innovation Center, Grenzacherstrasse 124, 4070 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Nissim Benvenisty
- Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
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128
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Abstract
Circadian clocks are present in most cells and are essential for maintenance of daily rhythms in physiology, mood, and cognition. Thus, not only neurons of the central circadian pacemaker but also many other peripheral tissues possess the same functional and self-sustained circadian clocks. Surprisingly, however, their properties vary widely within the human population. In recent years, this clock variance has been studied extensively both in health and in disease using robust lentivirus-based reporter technologies to probe circadian function in human peripheral cells as proxies for those in neurologically and physiologically relevant but inaccessible tissues. The same procedures can be used to investigate other conserved signal transduction cascades affecting multiple aspects of human physiology, behavior, and disease. Accessing gene expression variation within human populations via these powerful in vitro cell-based technologies could provide important insights into basic phenotypic diversity or to better interpret patterns of gene expression variation in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludmila Gaspar
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Steven A Brown
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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129
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Maimets T. Induced Pluripotency for the Study of Disease Mechanisms and Cell Therapy. Rare Dis 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9214-1_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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130
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Abstract
Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is commonly thought to arise from dysfunction of the synapse, the site of communication between neurons. However, loss of the protein that results in FXS occurs early in embryonic development, while synapses are formed relatively late. Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the leading known monogenic form of autism and the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. FXS results from silencing the FMR1 gene during embryonic development, leading to loss of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein that regulates mRNA transport, stability, and translation. FXS is commonly thought of as a disease of synaptic dysfunction; however, FMRP expression is lost early in embryonic development, well before most synaptogenesis occurs. Recent studies suggest that loss of FMRP results in aberrant neurogenesis, but neurogenic defects have been variable. We investigated whether FMRP affects neurogenesis in Xenopus laevis tadpoles that express a homolog of FMR1. We used in vivo time-lapse imaging of neural progenitor cells and their neuronal progeny to evaluate the effect of acute loss or overexpression of FMRP on neurogenesis in the developing optic tectum. We complimented the time-lapse studies with SYTOX labeling to quantify apoptosis and CldU labeling to measure cell proliferation. Animals with increased or decreased levels of FMRP have significantly decreased neuronal proliferation and survival. They also have increased neuronal differentiation, but deficient dendritic arbor elaboration. The presence and severity of these defects was highly sensitive to FMRP levels. These data demonstrate that FMRP plays an important role in neurogenesis and suggest that endogenous FMRP levels are carefully regulated. These studies show promise in using Xenopus as an experimental system to study fundamental deficits in brain development with loss of FMRP and give new insight into the pathophysiology of FXS.
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131
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Chintawar S, Graf M, Cader Z. Utility of Human Stem Cells for Drug Discovery. HUMAN-BASED SYSTEMS FOR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.1039/9781782620136-00162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry continues to struggle to deliver novel and innovative medicines to the market. One of the major challenges in deriving new therapeutics is to more accurately predict the safety and efficacy of the candidate molecule. The current paradigm of drug discovery has several limitations but perhaps the most conspicuous deficiency is the lack of human-based experimental models. The advent of human embryonic stem cells followed by the discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells offers unprecedented opportunities for integrating human cellular assays in drug discovery and development. Human iPS cell lines of many diseases have been obtained and iPSC-derived disease affected cells have been utilised for proof-of-concept drug screens to assess efficacy or potential toxicology. The incorporation of iPSC technology thus provides an invaluable opportunity to reduce drug attrition during the process of drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satyan Chintawar
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford Oxford OX3 9DU UK
| | - Martin Graf
- Roche Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development, Discovery Technologies, Roche Innovation Center Basel 124 Grenzacherstrasse CH 4070 Basel Switzerland
| | - Zameel Cader
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford Oxford OX3 9DU UK
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132
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Liu EY, Scott CT. Great expectations: autism spectrum disorder and induced pluripotent stem cell technologies. Stem Cell Rev Rep 2014; 10:145-50. [PMID: 24488263 DOI: 10.1007/s12015-014-9497-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
New applications of iPSC technology to research on complex idiopathic conditions raise several important ethical and social considerations for potential research participants and their families. In this short review, we examine these issues through the lens of emerging research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We begin by describing the current state of iPSC technology in research on ASD. Then we discuss how the social history of and current controversies in autism research combined with the emergence of autism-specific iPSC biobanks indicate an urgent need for researchers to clearly communicate the limitations and possibilities of iPSC research to ensure research participants have the ability to provide fully informed, voluntary consent. We conclude by offering recommendations to bolster informed consent for research involving iPSC biobanks, both in the specific context of ASD and more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Yang Liu
- Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford, CA, USA,
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133
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Johannesson B, Sagi I, Gore A, Paull D, Yamada M, Golan-Lev T, Li Z, LeDuc C, Shen Y, Stern S, Xu N, Ma H, Kang E, Mitalipov S, Sauer MV, Zhang K, Benvenisty N, Egli D. Comparable frequencies of coding mutations and loss of imprinting in human pluripotent cells derived by nuclear transfer and defined factors. Cell Stem Cell 2014; 15:634-42. [PMID: 25517467 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2014.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2014] [Revised: 08/19/2014] [Accepted: 10/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The recent finding that reprogrammed human pluripotent stem cells can be derived by nuclear transfer into human oocytes as well as by induced expression of defined factors has revitalized the debate on whether one approach might be advantageous over the other. Here we compare the genetic and epigenetic integrity of human nuclear-transfer embryonic stem cell (NT-ESC) lines and isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, derived from the same somatic cell cultures of fetal, neonatal, and adult origin. The two cell types showed similar genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation profiles. Importantly, NT-ESCs and iPSCs had comparable numbers of de novo coding mutations, but significantly more than parthenogenetic ESCs. As iPSCs, NT-ESCs displayed clone- and gene-specific aberrations in DNA methylation and allele-specific expression of imprinted genes. The occurrence of these genetic and epigenetic defects in both NT-ESCs and iPSCs suggests that they are inherent to reprogramming, regardless of derivation approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bjarki Johannesson
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Ido Sagi
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Athurva Gore
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Daniel Paull
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Mitsutoshi Yamada
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Tamar Golan-Lev
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
| | - Zhe Li
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Charles LeDuc
- Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center & Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Yufeng Shen
- Departments of Systems Biology and Biomedical Informatics, JP Sulzberger Columbia Genome Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Samantha Stern
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Nanfang Xu
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Hong Ma
- Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Eunju Kang
- Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Shoukhrat Mitalipov
- Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Mark V Sauer
- Center for Women's Reproductive Care, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10019, USA
| | - Kun Zhang
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Nissim Benvenisty
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
| | - Dieter Egli
- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA; Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center & Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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134
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Halevy T, Urbach A. Comparing ESC and iPSC-Based Models for Human Genetic Disorders. J Clin Med 2014; 3:1146-62. [PMID: 26237596 PMCID: PMC4470175 DOI: 10.3390/jcm3041146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2014] [Revised: 09/29/2014] [Accepted: 09/30/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, human disorders were studied using animal models or somatic cells taken from patients. Such studies enabled the analysis of the molecular mechanisms of numerous disorders, and led to the discovery of new treatments. Yet, these systems are limited or even irrelevant in modeling multiple genetic diseases. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from diseased blastocysts, the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients' somatic cells, and the new technologies for genome editing of pluripotent stem cells have opened a new window of opportunities in the field of disease modeling, and enabled studying diseases that couldn't be modeled in the past. Importantly, despite the high similarity between ESCs and iPSCs, there are several fundamental differences between these cells, which have important implications regarding disease modeling. In this review we compare ESC-based models to iPSC-based models, and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each system. We further suggest a roadmap for how to choose the optimal strategy to model each specific disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomer Halevy
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
| | - Achia Urbach
- Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
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135
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Avitzour M, Mor-Shaked H, Yanovsky-Dagan S, Aharoni S, Altarescu G, Renbaum P, Eldar-Geva T, Schonberger O, Levy-Lahad E, Epsztejn-Litman S, Eiges R. FMR1 epigenetic silencing commonly occurs in undifferentiated fragile X-affected embryonic stem cells. Stem Cell Reports 2014; 3:699-706. [PMID: 25418717 PMCID: PMC4235235 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2014.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2014] [Revised: 08/28/2014] [Accepted: 09/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common heritable form of cognitive impairment. It results from epigenetic silencing of the X-linked FMR1 gene by a CGG expansion in its 5′-untranslated region. Taking advantage of a large set of FXS-affected human embryonic stem cell (HESC) lines and isogenic subclones derived from them, we show that FMR1 hypermethylation commonly occurs in the undifferentiated state (six of nine lines, ranging from 24% to 65%). In addition, we demonstrate that hypermethylation is tightly linked with FMR1 transcriptional inactivation in undifferentiated cells, coincides with loss of H3K4me2 and gain of H3K9me3, and is unrelated to CTCF binding. Taken together, these results demonstrate that FMR1 epigenetic gene silencing takes place in FXS HESCs and clearly highlights the importance of examining multiple cell lines when investigating FXS and most likely other epigenetically regulated diseases. FMR1 epigenetic gene silencing commonly occurs in the undifferentiated FXS cells FXS HESCs are heterogeneous for repeat size and methylation levels This study underscores the importance of multiple HESC lines in disease modeling
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Avitzour
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Hagar Mor-Shaked
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Shira Yanovsky-Dagan
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Shira Aharoni
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Gheona Altarescu
- Zohar PGD Lab, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Paul Renbaum
- Zohar PGD Lab, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Talia Eldar-Geva
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Oshrat Schonberger
- IVF Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Ephrat Levy-Lahad
- Zohar PGD Lab, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Silvina Epsztejn-Litman
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel
| | - Rachel Eiges
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Medical Genetics Institute, Shaare Zedek Medical Center affiliated with the Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem 91031, Israel.
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136
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de Esch CE, Zeidler S, Willemsen R. Translational endpoints in fragile X syndrome. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 46 Pt 2:256-69. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Revised: 10/07/2013] [Accepted: 10/09/2013] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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137
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de Esch CEF, Ghazvini M, Loos F, Schelling-Kazaryan N, Widagdo W, Munshi ST, van der Wal E, Douben H, Gunhanlar N, Kushner SA, Pijnappel WWMP, de Vrij FMS, Geijsen N, Gribnau J, Willemsen R. Epigenetic characterization of the FMR1 promoter in induced pluripotent stem cells from human fibroblasts carrying an unmethylated full mutation. Stem Cell Reports 2014; 3:548-55. [PMID: 25358783 PMCID: PMC4223701 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2014.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2013] [Revised: 07/28/2014] [Accepted: 07/28/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Silencing of the FMR1 gene leads to fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability. To study the epigenetic modifications of the FMR1 gene during silencing in time, we used fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of an unmethylated full mutation (uFM) individual with normal intelligence. The uFM fibroblast line carried an unmethylated FMR1 promoter region and expressed normal to slightly increased FMR1 mRNA levels. The FMR1 expression in the uFM line corresponds with the increased H3 acetylation and H3K4 methylation in combination with a reduced H3K9 methylation. After reprogramming, the FMR1 promoter region was methylated in all uFM iPSC clones. Two clones were analyzed further and showed a lack of FMR1 expression, whereas the presence of specific histone modifications also indicated a repressed FMR1 promoter. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that the standard reprogramming procedure leads to epigenetic silencing of the fully mutated FMR1 gene. Fibroblasts with an unmethylated FM in the FMR1 gene were reprogrammed into iPSCs Unmethylated FM FMR1 promoter becomes methylated after reprogramming This uFM iPSC line lacks FMR1 expression and shows repressive H3K9 methylation The FMR1 gene remains silenced after differentiation of the iPSCs into NPCs
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Affiliation(s)
- Celine E F de Esch
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Mehrnaz Ghazvini
- iPS Cell Facility, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Reproduction and Development, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Friedemann Loos
- Department of Reproduction and Development, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - W Widagdo
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Shashini T Munshi
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Erik van der Wal
- Molecular Stem Cell Biology, Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Pediatrics, Division of Metabolic Diseases and Genetics, Center for Lysosomal and Metabolic Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hannie Douben
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Nilhan Gunhanlar
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Steven A Kushner
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - W W M Pim Pijnappel
- Molecular Stem Cell Biology, Department of Clinical Genetics and Department of Pediatrics, Division of Metabolic Diseases and Genetics, Center for Lysosomal and Metabolic Diseases, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Femke M S de Vrij
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Niels Geijsen
- KNAW Hubrecht Institute and UMC Utrecht, 3584 CT Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department Companion Animals, Utrecht University School for Veterinary Medicine, 3508 TD Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Joost Gribnau
- Department of Reproduction and Development, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Rob Willemsen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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138
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Diecke S, Jung SM, Lee J, Ju JH. Recent technological updates and clinical applications of induced pluripotent stem cells. Korean J Intern Med 2014; 29:547-57. [PMID: 25228828 PMCID: PMC4164716 DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2014.29.5.547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2014] [Accepted: 07/22/2014] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were first described in 2006 and have since emerged as a promising cell source for clinical applications. The rapid progression in iPSC technology is still ongoing and directed toward increasing the efficacy of iPSC production and reducing the immunogenic and tumorigenic potential of these cells. Enormous efforts have been made to apply iPSC-based technology in the clinic, for drug screening approaches and cell replacement therapy. Moreover, disease modeling using patient-specific iPSCs continues to expand our knowledge regarding the pathophysiology and prospective treatment of rare disorders. Furthermore, autologous stem cell therapy with patient-specific iPSCs shows great propensity for the minimization of immune reactions and the provision of a limitless supply of cells for transplantation. In this review, we discuss the recent updates in iPSC technology and the use of iPSCs in disease modeling and regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Diecke
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Seung Min Jung
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jaecheol Lee
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Ji Hyeon Ju
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
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139
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Antonic A, Dottori M, Leung J, Sidon K, Batchelor PE, Wilson W, Macleod MR, Howells DW. Hypothermia protects human neurons. Int J Stroke 2014; 9:544-52. [PMID: 24393199 PMCID: PMC4235397 DOI: 10.1111/ijs.12224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2013] [Accepted: 10/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hypothermia provides neuroprotection after cardiac arrest, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and in animal models of ischemic stroke. However, as drug development for stroke has been beset by translational failure, we sought additional evidence that hypothermia protects human neurons against ischemic injury. METHODS Human embryonic stem cells were cultured and differentiated to provide a source of neurons expressing β III tubulin, microtubule-associated protein 2, and the Neuronal Nuclei antigen. Oxygen deprivation, oxygen-glucose deprivation, and H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress were used to induce relevant injury. RESULTS Hypothermia to 33°C protected these human neurons against H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress reducing lactate dehydrogenase release and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-staining by 53% (P ≤ 0·0001; 95% confidence interval 34·8-71·04) and 42% (P ≤ 0·0001; 95% confidence interval 27·5-56·6), respectively, after 24 h in culture. Hypothermia provided similar protection against oxygen-glucose deprivation (42%, P ≤ 0·001, 95% confidence interval 18·3-71·3 and 26%, P ≤ 0·001; 95% confidence interval 12·4-52·2, respectively) but provided no protection against oxygen deprivation alone. Protection (21%) persisted against H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress even when hypothermia was initiated six-hours after onset of injury (P ≤ 0·05; 95% confidence interval 0·57-43·1). CONCLUSION We conclude that hypothermia protects stem cell-derived human neurons against insults relevant to stroke over a clinically relevant time frame. Protection against H2 O2 -induced injury and combined oxygen and glucose deprivation but not against oxygen deprivation alone suggests an interaction in which protection benefits from reduction in available glucose under some but not all circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Antonic
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
- Department of Medicine, University of MelbourneHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
| | - Mirella Dottori
- Centre for Neuroscience Research, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of MelbourneMelbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Jessie Leung
- Centre for Neuroscience Research, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of MelbourneMelbourne, Vic, Australia
| | - Kate Sidon
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
- Department of Medicine, University of MelbourneHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
| | - Peter E Batchelor
- Department of Medicine, University of MelbourneHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
| | - William Wilson
- CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, Riverside Life Sciences PrecinctNorth Ryde, NSW, Australia
| | - Malcolm R Macleod
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Western General Hospital, University of EdinburghEdinburgh, UK
| | - David W Howells
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
- Department of Medicine, University of MelbourneHeidelberg, Vic, Australia
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140
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Li Y, Zhao X. Concise review: Fragile X proteins in stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Stem Cells 2014; 32:1724-33. [PMID: 24648324 PMCID: PMC4255947 DOI: 10.1002/stem.1698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2014] [Revised: 02/18/2014] [Accepted: 03/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic form of autism spectrum disorder, is caused by deficiency of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). Despite extensive research and scientific progress, understanding how FMRP regulates brain development and function remains a major challenge. FMRP is a neuronal RNA-binding protein that binds about a third of messenger RNAs in the brain and controls their translation, stability, and cellular localization. The absence of FMRP results in increased protein synthesis, leading to enhanced signaling in a number of intracellular pathways, including the mTOR, mGLuR5, ERK, Gsk3β, PI3K, and insulin pathways. Until recently, FXS was largely considered a deficit of mature neurons; however, a number of new studies have shown that FMRP may also play important roles in stem cells, among them neural stem cells, germline stem cells, and pluripotent stem cells. In this review, we will cover these newly discovered functions of FMRP, as well as the other two fragile X-related proteins, in stem cells. We will also discuss the literature on the use of stem cells, particularly neural stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, as model systems for studying the functions of FMRP in neuronal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Li
- Waisman Center and Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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141
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Jang J, Quan Z, Yum YJ, Song HS, Paek S, Kang HC. Induced pluripotent stem cells for modeling of pediatric neurological disorders. Biotechnol J 2014; 9:871-81. [PMID: 24838856 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201400010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2014] [Revised: 03/29/2014] [Accepted: 05/15/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying childhood neurological disorders have remained obscure due to a lack of suitable disease models reflecting human pathogenesis. Using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, various neurological disorders can now be extensively modeled. Specifically, iPSC technology has aided the study and treatment of early-onset pediatric neurodegenerative diseases such as Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome. Prader-Willi syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), fragile X syndrome, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), and SCN1A gene-related epilepsies. In this paper, we provide an overview of various gene delivery systems for generating iPSCs, the current state of modeling early-onset neurological disorders and the ultimate application of these in vitro models in cell therapy through the correction of disease-specific mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiho Jang
- Department of Physiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
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142
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Translation: screening for novel therapeutics with disease-relevant cell types derived from human stem cell models. Biol Psychiatry 2014; 75:952-60. [PMID: 23876186 PMCID: PMC3815991 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2013] [Revised: 05/02/2013] [Accepted: 05/29/2013] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The advent of somatic cell reprogramming technologies-which enables the generation of patient-specific, induced pluripotent stem cell and other trans-differentiated human neuronal cell models-provides new means of gaining insight into the molecular mechanisms and neural substrates of psychiatric disorders. By allowing a more precise understanding of genotype-phenotype relationship in disease-relevant human cell types, the use of reprogramming technologies in tandem with emerging genome engineering approaches provides a previously "missing link" between basic research and translational efforts. In this review, we summarize advances in applying human pluripotent stem cell and reprogramming technologies to generate specific neural subtypes with a focus on the use of these in vitro systems for the discovery of small molecule-probes and novel therapeutics. Examples are given where human cell models of psychiatric disorders have begun to reveal new mechanistic insight into pathophysiology and simultaneously have provided the foundation for developing disease-relevant, phenotypic assays suitable for both functional genomic and chemical screens. A number of areas for future research are discussed, including the need to develop robust methodology for the reproducible, large-scale production of disease-relevant neural cell types in formats compatible with high-throughput screening modalities, including high-content imaging, multidimensional, signature-based screening, and in vitro network with multielectrode arrays. Limitations, including the challenges in recapitulating neurocircuits and non-cell autonomous phenotypes are discussed. Although these technologies are still in active development, we conclude that, as our understanding of how to efficiently generate and probe the plasticity of patient-specific stem models improves, their utility is likely to advance rapidly.
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143
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GluD1 is a common altered player in neuronal differentiation from both MECP2-mutated and CDKL5-mutated iPS cells. Eur J Hum Genet 2014; 23:195-201. [PMID: 24916645 DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.81] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Revised: 03/17/2014] [Accepted: 04/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Rett syndrome is a monogenic disease due to de novo mutations in either MECP2 or CDKL5 genes. In spite of their involvement in the same disease, a functional interaction between the two genes has not been proven. MeCP2 is a transcriptional regulator; CDKL5 encodes for a kinase protein that might be involved in the regulation of gene expression. Therefore, we hypothesized that mutations affecting the two genes may lead to similar phenotypes by dysregulating the expression of common genes. To test this hypothesis we used induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from fibroblasts of one Rett patient with a MECP2 mutation (p.Arg306Cys) and two patients with mutations in CDKL5 (p.Gln347Ter and p.Thr288Ile). Expression profiling was performed in CDKL5-mutated cells and genes of interest were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR in both CDKL5- and MECP2-mutated cells. The only major change in gene expression common to MECP2- and CDKL5-mutated cells was for GRID1, encoding for glutamate D1 receptor (GluD1), a member of the δ-family of ionotropic glutamate receptors. GluD1 does not form AMPA or NMDA glutamate receptors. It acts like an adhesion molecule by linking the postsynaptic and presynaptic compartments, preferentially inducing the inhibitory presynaptic differentiation of cortical neurons. Our results demonstrate that GRID1 expression is downregulated in both MECP2- and CDKL5-mutated iPS cells and upregulated in neuronal precursors and mature neurons. These data provide novel insights into disease pathophysiology and identify possible new targets for therapeutic treatment of Rett syndrome.
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144
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Deidda G, Bozarth IF, Cancedda L. Modulation of GABAergic transmission in development and neurodevelopmental disorders: investigating physiology and pathology to gain therapeutic perspectives. Front Cell Neurosci 2014; 8:119. [PMID: 24904277 PMCID: PMC4033255 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2014] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
During mammalian ontogenesis, the neurotransmitter GABA is a fundamental regulator of neuronal networks. In neuronal development, GABAergic signaling regulates neural proliferation, migration, differentiation, and neuronal-network wiring. In the adult, GABA orchestrates the activity of different neuronal cell-types largely interconnected, by powerfully modulating synaptic activity. GABA exerts these functions by binding to chloride-permeable ionotropic GABAA receptors and metabotropic GABAB receptors. According to its functional importance during development, GABA is implicated in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, Fragile X, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome and neurofibromatosis. The strength and polarity of GABAergic transmission is continuously modulated during physiological, but also pathological conditions. For GABAergic transmission through GABAA receptors, strength regulation is achieved by different mechanisms such as modulation of GABAA receptors themselves, variation of intracellular chloride concentration, and alteration in GABA metabolism. In the never-ending effort to find possible treatments for GABA-related neurological diseases, of great importance would be modulating GABAergic transmission in a safe and possibly physiological way, without the dangers of either silencing network activity or causing epileptic seizures. In this review, we will discuss the different ways to modulate GABAergic transmission normally at work both during physiological and pathological conditions. Our aim is to highlight new research perspectives for therapeutic treatments that reinstate natural and physiological brain functions in neuro-pathological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Deidda
- Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genova, Italy
| | - Ignacio F Bozarth
- Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genova, Italy
| | - Laura Cancedda
- Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genova, Italy
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145
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Stelzer Y, Sagi I, Yanuka O, Eiges R, Benvenisty N. The noncoding RNA IPW regulates the imprinted DLK1-DIO3 locus in an induced pluripotent stem cell model of Prader-Willi syndrome. Nat Genet 2014; 46:551-7. [PMID: 24816254 DOI: 10.1038/ng.2968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2013] [Accepted: 04/03/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Parental imprinting is a form of epigenetic regulation that results in parent-of-origin differential gene expression. To study Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a developmental imprinting disorder, we generated case-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) harboring distinct aberrations in the affected region on chromosome 15. In studying PWS-iPSCs and human parthenogenetic iPSCs, we unexpectedly found substantial upregulation of virtually all maternally expressed genes (MEGs) in the imprinted DLK1-DIO3 locus on chromosome 14. Subsequently, we determined that IPW, a long noncoding RNA in the critical region of the PWS locus, is a regulator of the DLK1-DIO3 region, as its overexpression in PWS and parthenogenetic iPSCs resulted in downregulation of MEGs in this locus. We further show that gene expression changes in the DLK1-DIO3 region coincide with chromatin modifications rather than DNA methylation levels. Our results suggest that a subset of PWS phenotypes may arise from dysregulation of an imprinted locus distinct from the PWS region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonatan Stelzer
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ido Sagi
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ofra Yanuka
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Rachel Eiges
- Stem Cell Research Laboratory, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Nissim Benvenisty
- Stem Cell Unit, Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
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146
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Compagnucci C, Nizzardo M, Corti S, Zanni G, Bertini E. In vitro neurogenesis: development and functional implications of iPSC technology. Cell Mol Life Sci 2014; 71:1623-39. [PMID: 24252976 PMCID: PMC11113522 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-013-1511-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2013] [Revised: 10/28/2013] [Accepted: 10/30/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Neurogenesis is the developmental process regulating cell proliferation of neural stem cells, determining their differentiation into glial and neuronal cells, and orchestrating their organization into finely regulated functional networks. Can this complex process be recapitulated in vitro using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology? Can neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases be modeled using iPSCs? What is the potential of iPSC technology in neurobiology? What are the recent advances in the field of neurological diseases? Since the applications of iPSCs in neurobiology are based on the capacity to regulate in vitro differentiation of human iPSCs into different neuronal subtypes and glial cells, and the possibility of obtaining iPSC-derived neurons and glial cells is based on and hindered by our poor understanding of human embryonic development, we reviewed current knowledge on in vitro neural differentiation from a developmental and cellular biology perspective. We highlight the importance to further advance our understanding on the mechanisms controlling in vivo neurogenesis in order to efficiently guide neurogenesis in vitro for cell modeling and therapeutical applications of iPSCs technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Compagnucci
- Unit of Neuromuscular and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Department of Neurosciences, Bambino Gesù Children's Research Hospital, IRCCS, 0165, Rome, Italy,
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147
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Doers ME, Musser MT, Nichol R, Berndt ER, Baker M, Gomez TM, Zhang SC, Abbeduto L, Bhattacharyya A. iPSC-derived forebrain neurons from FXS individuals show defects in initial neurite outgrowth. Stem Cells Dev 2014; 23:1777-87. [PMID: 24654675 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2014.0030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability and is closely linked with autism. The genetic basis of FXS is an expansion of CGG repeats in the 5'-untranslated region of the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome leading to the loss of expression of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). The cause of FXS has been known for over 20 years, yet the full molecular and cellular consequences of this mutation remain unclear. Although mouse and fly models have provided significant understanding of this disorder and its effects on the central nervous system, insight from human studies is limited. We have created human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from fibroblasts obtained from individuals with FXS to enable in vitro modeling of the human disease. Three young boys with FXS who came from a well-characterized cohort representative of the range of affectedness typical for the syndrome were recruited to aid in linking cellular and behavioral phenotypes. The FMR1 mutation is preserved during the reprogramming of patient fibroblasts to iPSCs. Mosaicism of the CGG repeat length in one of the patient's fibroblasts allowed for the generation of isogenic lines with differing CGG repeat lengths from the same patient. FXS forebrain neurons were differentiated from these iPSCs and display defective neurite initiation and extension. These cells provide a well-characterized resource to examine potential neuronal deficits caused by FXS as well as the function of FMRP in human neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew E Doers
- 1 Waisman Center, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison , Madison, Wisconsin
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148
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Kim DS, Ross PJ, Zaslavsky K, Ellis J. Optimizing neuronal differentiation from induced pluripotent stem cells to model ASD. Front Cell Neurosci 2014; 8:109. [PMID: 24782713 PMCID: PMC3990101 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2013] [Accepted: 03/25/2014] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Despite its high prevalence, discovery of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ASD has lagged due to a lack of appropriate model systems. Recent advances in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology and neural differentiation techniques allow for detailed functional analyses of neurons generated from living individuals with ASD. Refinement of cortical neuron differentiation methods from iPSCs will enable mechanistic studies of specific neuronal subpopulations that may be preferentially impaired in ASD. In this review, we summarize recent accomplishments in differentiation of cortical neurons from human pluripotent stems cells and efforts to establish in vitro model systems to study ASD using personalized neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dae-Sung Kim
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - P Joel Ross
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kirill Zaslavsky
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - James Ellis
- Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, ON, Canada ; Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto Toronto, ON, Canada
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149
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The need for a comprehensive molecular characterization of autism spectrum disorders. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 2014; 17:651-73. [PMID: 24229490 DOI: 10.1017/s146114571300117x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of disorders which have complex behavioural phenotypes. Although ASD is a highly heritable neuropsychiatric disorder, genetic research alone has not provided a profound understanding of the underlying causes. Recent developments using biochemical tools such as transcriptomics, proteomics and cellular models, will pave the way to gain new insights into the underlying pathological pathways. This review addresses the state-of-the-art in the search for molecular biomarkers for ASD. In particular, the most important findings in the biochemical field are highlighted and the need for establishing streamlined interaction between behavioural studies, genetics and proteomics is stressed. Eventually, these approaches will lead to suitable translational ASD models and, therefore, a better disease understanding which may facilitate novel drug discovery efforts in this challenging field.
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150
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Okano H, Yamanaka S. iPS cell technologies: significance and applications to CNS regeneration and disease. Mol Brain 2014; 7:22. [PMID: 24685317 PMCID: PMC3977688 DOI: 10.1186/1756-6606-7-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 161] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2014] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In 2006, we demonstrated that mature somatic cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by gene transfer, generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Since that time, there has been an enormous increase in interest regarding the application of iPS cell technologies to medical science, in particular for regenerative medicine and human disease modeling. In this review article, we outline the current status of applications of iPS technology to cell therapies (particularly for spinal cord injury), as well as neurological disease-specific iPS cell research (particularly for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease). Finally, future directions of iPS cell research are discussed including a) development of an accurate assay system for disease-associated phenotypes, b) demonstration of causative relationships between genotypes and phenotypes by genome editing, c) application to sporadic and common diseases, and d) application to preemptive medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hideyuki Okano
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
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