Directed Dopaminergic Neuron Differentiation from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Summary

We, based on knowledge from developmental biology and published research, developed an optimized protocol to efficiently generate A9 midbrain dopaminergic neurons from both human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells, which would be useful for disease modeling and cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

Abstract

Dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (also known as A9 DA neurons) are the specific cell type that is lost in Parkinson’s disease (PD). There is great interest in deriving A9 DA neurons from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for regenerative cell replacement therapy for PD. During neural development, A9 DA neurons originate from the floor plate (FP) precursors located at the ventral midline of the central nervous system. Here, we optimized the culture conditions for the stepwise differentiation of hPSCs to A9 DA neurons, which mimics embryonic DA neuron development. In our protocol, we first describe the efficient generation of FP precursor cells from hPSCs using a small molecule method, and then convert the FP cells to A9 DA neurons, which could be maintained in vitro for several months. This efficient, repeatable and controllable protocol works well in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from normal persons and PD patients, in which one could derive A9 DA neurons to perform in vitro disease modeling and drug screening and in vivo cell transplantation therapy for PD.

Introduction

Dopaminergic (DA) neurons can be found in several brain regions, including the midbrain, hypothalamus, retina, and olfactory bulbs. The A9 DA neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) control behavior and movement by projecting to the striatum in the forebrain and forming the extrapyramidal motor system. Degeneration of A9 DA neurons leads to Parkinson’s disease (PD), which is the second most common human neurodegenerative disorder and currently incurable. Cell replacement therapy is one of the most promising strategies for the treatment of PD¹, therefore, there has been a great interest in deriving A9 DA neurons from human pluripotent stem....

Protocol

1. Preparation of Culture Media

1. Prepare mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) medium by combining the following: 445 ml DMEM, 50 ml fetal bovine serum (FBS), and 5 ml 100x penicillin/ampicillin stock solution. Keep filter sterilized medium at 4 °C for no more than 14 days.
2. Prepare serum-containing hPSC culture medium by combining the following: 385 ml DMEM/F12, 100 ml knockout serum replacement (KSR), 5 ml 100x non-essential amino acid stock solution, 5 ml 100x penicillin/ampicillin stock solution, 5 ml 100x -mercaptoethanol stock solution, and 10 ng/ml bFGF. Keep filter sterilized medium at 4 °C for no more than 10 days.
3. Prepare m....

Results

An overview of the differentiation protocol is shown in Figure 1. The efficiency of the differentiation protocol presented here relies upon the status of the starting cells. Therefore, it is critical to make sure that, first one removes all the differentiated colonies before dissociating hPSCs into single cells for differentiation, and second, one depletes most, if not all, the MEF feeder cells by incubating the cells on gelatin-coated plates for 30 min, and third, one plates the hPSC single cells at the.......

Discussion

Human pluripotent stem cells (including both hESCs and hiPSCs) can be differentiated in vitro to generate most, if not all, cell types of our body including DA neurons, which has been demonstrated in previous studies¹⁹. Here, based on knowledge from embryonic dopaminergic neuron development²⁰ and published protocols from other laboratories^14,15, we optimized the culture conditions for the generation of DA neurons from hESCs and hiPSCs. This protocol is efficient, reproducible and.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
DMEM	Life Technologies	10569-010
FBS	Life Technologies	26140
penicillin/ampicillin	Life Technologies	15140-122
DMEM/F12	Life Technologies	10565-018
KSR	Life Technologies	10828-028
Non-essential amino acid	Life Technologies	11140-050
b-mercaptoethanol	Millipore	ES-007-E
bFGF	R&D Systems	233-FB-025
mTesR1	STEMCELL Technologies	5850
Collagenase IV	Life Technologies	17104-019
Gelatin	Sigma-Aldrich	G9391
N2 supplement	Life Technologies	17502-048
B27 supplement	Life Technologies	17504-044
Neurobasal	Life Technologies	21103-049
Glutamax	Life Technologies	35050-061
PBS	Life Technologies	10010-023
Growth factor reduced matrigel	BD Biosciences	354230
Accutase	MP Biomedicals	1000449
Thiazovivin	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-361380
SB431542	Tocris Bioscience	1614
LDN-193189	Stemgent	04-0074
SAG	EMD Millipore	566660-1MG
Purmorphamine	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-202785
FGF8b	R&D Systems	423-F8-025
CHIR99021	Cellagen Technology	C2447-2s
BDNF	R&D Systems	248-BD-025
GDNF	R&D Systems	212-GD-010
TGF-beta3	R&D Systems	243-B3-002
Ascorbic acid	Sigma-Aldrich	A4034
cAMP	Sigma-Aldrich	D0627
Mouse anti human NESTIN antibody	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-23927	1/1,000 dilution
Rabbit anti human OTX2 antibody	Millipore	AB9566	1/2,000 dilutiion
Goat anti human FOXA2 antibody	R&D Systems	AF2400	1/200 dilution
rabbit anti human LMX1a antibody	Millipore	AB10533	1/1,000 dilution
Rabbit anti human TH antibody	Pel Freez	P40101	1/500 dilution
Chicken anti human TH antibody	Millipore	AB9702	1/500 dilution
Mouse anti human TUJ1 antibody	Covance	MMS-435P	1/,2000 dilution
Rabbit anti human GIRK2 antibody	Abcam	ab30738	1/300 dilution
Rabbit anti human Calbindin antibody	Abcam	ab25085	1/400 dilution
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5804