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de Leeuw VC, Pennings JLA, Hessel EVS, Piersma AH. Exploring the biological domain of the neural embryonic stem cell test (ESTn): Morphogenetic regulators, Hox genes and cell types, and their usefulness as biomarkers for embryotoxicity screening. Toxicology 2021; 454:152735. [PMID: 33636252 DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2021.152735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Animal-free assessment of compound-induced developmental neurotoxicity will most likely be based on batteries of multiple in vitro tests. The optimal battery is built by combining tests with complementary biological domains that together ideally cover all relevant toxicity pathways. Thus, biological domain definition, i.e. which biological processes and cell types are represented, is an important assay characteristic for determining the place of assays in testing strategies. The murine neural embryonic stem cell test (ESTn) is employed to predict the developmental neurotoxicity of compounds. The aim of this study was to explore the biological domain of ESTn according to three groups of biomarker genes of early (neuro)development: morphogenetic regulators, Hox genes and cell type markers for the ectodermal and neural lineages. These biomarker groups were selected based on their crucial regulatory role in (neuro)development. Analysis of these genes in a series of previously generated whole transcriptome datasets of ESTn showed that at day 7 in culture cell differentiation resembled hindbrain/branchial/thoracic development between E6.5-E12.5 in vivo, with subsequent development into a mixed cell culture containing different neural subtypes, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes by day 13. In addition, the selected biomarkers showed common and distinct responses to compound exposure. Monitoring the biological domain of ESTn through gene expression patterns of morphogenetic regulators, Hox genes and cell type markers proved instrumental in providing mechanistic understanding of compound effects on neural differentiation in ESTn, and can aid in positioning of the test in a battery of complementary in vitro tests in integrated approaches to testing and assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria C de Leeuw
- Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Jeroen L A Pennings
- Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Ellen V S Hessel
- Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands
| | - Aldert H Piersma
- Centre for Health Protection, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Aghayee A, Ashton R. Methods for Controlled Induction of Singular Rosette Cytoarchitecture Within Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Multicellular Assemblies. Methods Mol Biol 2021; 2258:193-203. [PMID: 33340362 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1174-6_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Neurally differentiating human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) possess the ability to self-organize into structures reminiscent of the developing fetal brain. In 2- and 3D cultures, this phenomenon initiates with formation of polarized areas of neural stem cells (NSCs), known as rosettes that resemble cross-sectional slices of the embryonic neural tube, i.e., the central nervous system (CNS) anlage. Thus, neural rosettes serve as an excellent starting point for bioengineering tissue models of all CNS tissues. Here, we provide detailed methods for bioengineering controlled induction of hPSC-derived neural assemblies with a biomimetic, singular neural rosette cytoarchitecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Aghayee
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Randolph Ashton
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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Gnecco JS, Brown AT, Kan EL, Baugh L, Ives C, Loring M, Griffith LG. Physiomimetic Models of Adenomyosis. Semin Reprod Med 2020; 38:179-196. [PMID: 33176387 PMCID: PMC7803459 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Adenomyosis remains an enigmatic disease in the clinical and research communities. The high prevalence, diversity of morphological and symptomatic presentations, array of potential etiological explanations, and variable response to existing interventions suggest that different subgroups of patients with distinguishable mechanistic drivers of disease may exist. These factors, combined with the weak links to genetic predisposition, make the entire spectrum of the human condition challenging to model in animals. Here, after an overview of current approaches, a vision for applying physiomimetic modeling to adenomyosis is presented. Physiomimetics combines a system's biology analysis of patient populations to generate hypotheses about mechanistic bases for stratification with in vitro patient avatars to test these hypotheses. A substantial foundation for three-dimensional (3D) tissue engineering of adenomyosis lesions exists in several disparate areas: epithelial organoid technology; synthetic biomaterials matrices for epithelial–stromal coculture; smooth muscle 3D tissue engineering; and microvascular tissue engineering. These approaches can potentially be combined with microfluidic platform technologies to model the lesion microenvironment and can potentially be coupled to other microorgan systems to examine systemic effects. In vitro patient-derived models are constructed to answer specific questions leading to target identification and validation in a manner that informs preclinical research and ultimately clinical trial design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan S Gnecco
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Alex T Brown
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Ellen L Kan
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Lauren Baugh
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Clara Ives
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Megan Loring
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Endometriosis and Adenomyosis Care Collaborative, Center for Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Newton Wellesley Hospital, Newton, Massachusetts
| | - Linda G Griffith
- Center for Gynepathology Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.,Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Åstrand C, Chotteau V, Falk A, Hedhammar M. Assembly of FN-silk with laminin-521 to integrate hPSCs into a three-dimensional culture for neural differentiation. Biomater Sci 2020; 8:2514-2525. [PMID: 32215392 DOI: 10.1039/c9bm01624d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) neural tissue cultures recapitulate the basic concepts during development and disease better than what can be obtained using conventional two-dimensional cultures. Here, we use a recombinant spider silk protein functionalized with a cell binding motif from fibronectin (FN-silk) in combination with a human recombinant laminin 521 (LN-521) to create a fully defined stem cell niche in 3D. A novel method to assemble silk blended with LN-521 together with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) is used to create centimeter-sized foams, which upon cultivation develop into 3D cell constructs supported by a microfibrillar network. After initial cell expansion, neural differentiation was induced to form a homogenous layer of continuous neuroectodermal tissue that allows further differentiation into neuronal subtypes. The silk-supported 3D cell constructs could then be detached from the bottom of the well and cultured as floating entities, where cells appeared in distinctive radial organization resembling early neural tube. This shows that the neural progenitors retain their cellular self-organization ability in the FN-silk/LN-521-supported 3D culture. Calcium imaging demonstrated spontaneous activity, which is important for the formation of neuronal networks. Together, the results show that hPSCs integrated into FN-silk/LN-521 foam develop into neural progenitors and that these stay viable during long-term differentiations. FN-silk/LN-521 also supports morphogenesis mimicking the human brain development and can serve as base for engineering of hPSC-derived neural tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Åstrand
- Dept. of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Teleanu RI, Gherasim O, Gherasim TG, Grumezescu V, Grumezescu AM, Teleanu DM. Nanomaterial-Based Approaches for Neural Regeneration. Pharmaceutics 2019; 11:E266. [PMID: 31181719 PMCID: PMC6630326 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics11060266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Revised: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mechanical, thermal, chemical, or ischemic injury of the central or peripheral nervous system results in neuron loss, neurite damage, and/or neuronal dysfunction, almost always accompanied by sensorimotor impairment which alters the patient's life quality. The regenerative strategies for the injured nervous system are currently limited and mainly allow partial functional recovery, so it is necessary to develop new and effective approaches for nervous tissue regenerative therapy. Nanomaterials based on inorganic or organic and composite or hybrid compounds with tunable physicochemical properties and functionality proved beneficial for the transport and delivery/release of various neuroregenerative-relevant biomolecules or cells. Within the following paragraphs, we will emphasize that nanomaterial-based strategies (including nanosized and nanostructured biomaterials) represent a promising alternative towards repairing and regenerating the injured nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Ioana Teleanu
- "Victor Gomoiu" Clinical Children's Hospital, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania.
| | - Oana Gherasim
- Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
- Lasers Department, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
| | - Tudor George Gherasim
- National Institute of Neurology and Neurovascular Diseases, 077160 Bucharest, Romania.
| | - Valentina Grumezescu
- Lasers Department, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
| | - Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
- Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Politehnica University of Bucharest, 011061 Bucharest, Romania.
| | - Daniel Mihai Teleanu
- Emergency University Hospital, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania.
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Estevez-Silva MC, Sreeram A, Cuskey S, Fedorchak N, Iyer N, Ashton RS. Single-injection ex ovo transplantation method for broad spinal cord engraftment of human pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons. J Neurosci Methods 2018; 298:16-23. [PMID: 29408391 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2017] [Revised: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Transplantation of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neurons into chick embryos is an established preliminary assay to evaluate engraftment potential. Yet, with recent advances in deriving diverse human neuronal subtypes, optimizing and standardizing such transplantation methodology for specific subtypes at their correlated anatomical sites is still required. NEW METHOD We determined the optimal stage of hPSC-derived motor neuron (hMN) differentiation for ex ovo transplantation, and developed a single injection protocol that implants hMNs throughout the spinal cord enabling broad regional engraftment possibilities. RESULTS A single injection into the neural tube lumen yielded a 100% chick embryo survival and successful transplantation rate with MN engraftment observed from the rostral cervical through caudal lumbar spinal cord. Transplantation of HB9+/ChAT- hMN precursors yielded the greatest amount of engraftment compared to Pax6+/Nkx6.1+/Olig2+ progenitors or mature HB9+/ChAT+ hMNs. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) Our single injection hMN transplant method is the first to standardize the optimal hMN phenotype for chick embryo transplantation, provide a rubric for engraftment quantification, and enable broad engraftment throughout the spinal cord with a single surgical intervention. CONCLUSION Transplantation of HB9+/ChAT- hMN precursors into chick embryos of Hamburger Hamilton (HH) stages 15-18 using a single luminal injection confers a high probability of embryo survival and cell engraftment in diverse regions throughout the spinal cord.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria C Estevez-Silva
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Akshitha Sreeram
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Stephanie Cuskey
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Nikolai Fedorchak
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Nisha Iyer
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Randolph S Ashton
- Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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