Patterning factors during neural progenitor induction determine regional identity and differentiation potential in vitro

Aishwarya G. Nadadhur, Prisca S. Leferink, Dwayne Holmes, Lisa Hinz, Paulien Cornelissen-Steijger, Lisa Gasparotto, Vivi M. Heine*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The neural tube consists of neural progenitors (NPs) that acquire different characteristics during gestation due to patterning factors. However, the influence of such patterning factors on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) during in vitro neural differentiation is often unclear. This study compared neural induction protocols involving in vitro patterning with single SMAD inhibition (SSI), retinoic acid (RA) administration and dual SMAD inhibition (DSI). While the derived NP cells expressed known NP markers, they differed in their NP expression profile and differentiation potential. Cortical neuronal cells generated from 1) SSI NPs exhibited less mature neuronal phenotypes, 2) RA NPs exhibited an increased GABAergic phenotype, and 3) DSI NPs exhibited greater expression of glutamatergic lineage markers. Further, although all NPs generated astrocytes, astrocytes derived from the RA-induced NPs had the highest GFAP expression. Differences between NP populations included differential expression of regional identity markers HOXB4, LBX1, OTX1 and GSX2, which persisted into mature neural cell stages. This study suggests that patterning factors regulate how potential NPs may differentiate into specific neuronal and glial cell types in vitro. This challenges the utility of generic neural induction procedures, while highlighting the importance of carefully selecting specific NP protocols.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-34
Number of pages10
JournalStem Cell Research
Volume32
Early online date23 Aug 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2018

Funding

We thank Matt Clancy for his help with designing the brain-patterning figure in Fig. 5 . We thank Gerbren Jacobs for his excellent technical support. AGN was supported by EU MSCA-ITN CognitionNet ( FP7-PEOPL E -2013-ITN 607508 ). VMH is supported by a ZonMw VIDI research grant ( 91712343 ), an E-Rare Joint Call project ( 9003037601 ), and a European Leukodystrophy Association (ELA) Research Grant ( 2014-012L1 ). Appendix A Supplementary data Supplementary Figure 1: Comparison of NP marker expression between H9-, H1- and human iPSC-derived NPs. Image 5 Supplementary Figure 2: Expression of known regional markers in the three neural induction conditions. Image 4 Supplementary Figure 3: Neuron lineage analysis and quantification. Image 3 Supplementary Figure 4: Glial and regional marker expression in astrocytes generated from the three neural induction conditions. Image 2 Supplementary material 5: Supplementary figure legends and methods. Image 1 Appendix A Supplementary data Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scr.2018.08.017 .

FundersFunder number
European CommissionFP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN 607508
ZonMw91712343, 9003037601
Association Européenne contre les Leucodystrophies2014-012L1
Erzincan Üniversitesi

    Keywords

    • Astrocytes
    • In vitro
    • Neural progenitors
    • Neurons
    • Patterning factors
    • Pluripotent stem cells

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