scholarly journals Generation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Asian Patients with Chronic Neurodegenerative Diseases

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumei LUO ◽  
Yong FAN ◽  
Xinjie CHEN ◽  
Bolan YU ◽  
Lei YUE ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4334
Author(s):  
Katrina Albert ◽  
Jonna Niskanen ◽  
Sara Kälvälä ◽  
Šárka Lehtonen

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a self-renewable pool of cells derived from an organism’s somatic cells. These can then be programmed to other cell types, including neurons. Use of iPSCs in research has been two-fold as they have been used for human disease modelling as well as for the possibility to generate new therapies. Particularly in complex human diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, iPSCs can give advantages over traditional animal models in that they more accurately represent the human genome. Additionally, patient-derived cells can be modified using gene editing technology and further transplanted to the brain. Glial cells have recently become important avenues of research in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, for example, in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. This review focuses on using glial cells (astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes) derived from human iPSCs in order to give a better understanding of how these cells contribute to neurodegenerative disease pathology. Using glia iPSCs in in vitro cell culture, cerebral organoids, and intracranial transplantation may give us future insight into both more accurate models and disease-modifying therapies.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247434
Author(s):  
Richard J. Burman ◽  
Lauren M. Watson ◽  
Danielle C. Smith ◽  
Joseph V. Raimondo ◽  
Robea Ballo ◽  
...  

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by a polyglutamine repeat expansion in the ATXN7 gene. Patients with this disease suffer from a degeneration of their cerebellar Purkinje neurons and retinal photoreceptors that result in a progressive ataxia and loss of vision. As with many neurodegenerative diseases, studies of pathogenesis have been hindered by a lack of disease-relevant models. To this end, we have generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a cohort of SCA7 patients in South Africa. First, we differentiated the SCA7 affected iPSCs into neurons which showed evidence of a transcriptional phenotype affecting components of STAGA (ATXN7 and KAT2A) and the heat shock protein pathway (DNAJA1 and HSP70). We then performed electrophysiology on the SCA7 iPSC-derived neurons and found that these cells show features of functional aberrations. Lastly, we were able to differentiate the SCA7 iPSCs into retinal photoreceptors that also showed similar transcriptional aberrations to the SCA7 neurons. Our findings give technical insights on how iPSC-derived neurons and photoreceptors can be derived from SCA7 patients and demonstrate that these cells express molecular and electrophysiological differences that may be indicative of impaired neuronal health. We hope that these findings will contribute towards the ongoing efforts to establish the cell-derived models of neurodegenerative diseases that are needed to develop patient-specific treatments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie L. Payne ◽  
Aude Sylvain ◽  
Carmel O’Brien ◽  
Daniella Herszfeld ◽  
Guizhi Sun ◽  
...  

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