Project description:Cerebral organoids â three-dimensional cultures of human cerebral tissue derived from pluripotent stem cells â have emerged as models of human cortical development. However, the extent to which in vitro organoid systems recapitulate neural progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation programs observed in vivo remains unclear. Here we use single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to dissect and compare cell composition and progenitor-to-neuron lineage relationships in human cerebral organoids and fetal neocortex. Covariation network analysis using the fetal neocortex data reveals known and novel interactions among genes central to neural progenitor proliferation and neuronal differentiation. In the organoid, we detect diverse progenitors and differentiated cell types of neuronal and mesenchymal lineages, and identify cells that derived from regions resembling the fetal neocortex. We find that these organoid cortical cells use gene expression programs remarkably similar to those of the fetal tissue in order to organize into cerebral cortex-like regions. Our comparison of in vivo and in vitro cortical single cell transcriptomes illuminates the genetic features underlying human cortical development that can be studied in organoid cultures. 734 single-cell transcriptomes from human fetal neocortex or human cerebral organoids from multiple time points were analyzed in this study. All single cell samples were processed on the microfluidic Fluidigm C1 platform and contain 92 external RNA spike-ins. Fetal neocortex data were generated at 12 weeks post conception (chip 1: 81 cells; chip 2: 83 cells) and 13 weeks post conception (62 cells). Cerebral organoid data were generated from dissociated whole organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cell line 409B2 (iPSC 409B2) at 33 days (40 cells), 35 days (68 cells), 37 days (71 cells), 41 days (74 cells), and 65 days (80 cells) after the start of embryoid body culture. Cerebral organoid data were also generated from microdissected cortical-like regions from H9 embryonic stem cell derived organoids at 53 days (region 1, 48 cells; region 2, 48 cells) or from iPSC 409B2 organoids at 58 days (region 3, 43 cells; region 4, 36 cells).
Project description:Bulk ATAC-seq was performed on human, chimpanzee, bonobo, and macaque stem cell-derived cerebral organoids. ATAC-seq was performed on day 60 (2 months old) and day 120 (4 months old) cerebral organoids.
Project description:We used cerebral organoids generated from wildtype and CHD8 +/- human ES cells to study the effects of CHD8, one of the top ASD risk genes, on early cortical development. CHD8 +/- hESC were generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to create a deletion within the helicase domain. Cerebral organoids were generated according to the protocol from Lancaster et al 2013 with minor modifications.
Project description:Epigenetic regulation is essential for the normal development of human cerebral cortex, and its disruptions would lead to diverse neurodevelopmental disorders. The epigenetic co-repressor CDYL exhibits widespread expression across various cell clusters within the human embryonic cortex, yet its roles in this intricate process have remained elusive. Here, we show that CDYL is critical for cortical neurogenesis, and CDYL deficiency led to an augmentation in the generation of GABAergic neurons instead of cortical progenitors and neurons in the cortical organoid model. Combining analysis of bulk RNA-seq and ChIP seq, we identified NNAT as a significant CDYL target by H3K27me3 modification, crucial for the fate determination of neural stem cells within human cortical organoids, distinctly diverging from the murine cortex at a similar developmental stage. Collectively, our study sheds light on the critical function of CDYL in the maintenance of cortical neural stem cell fate commitment during human corticogenesis through the inhibition of NNAT expression.
Project description:Cerebral organoids – three-dimensional cultures of human cerebral tissue derived from pluripotent stem cells – have emerged as models of human cortical development. However, the extent to which in vitro organoid systems recapitulate neural progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation programs observed in vivo remains unclear. Here we use single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to dissect and compare cell composition and progenitor-to-neuron lineage relationships in human cerebral organoids and fetal neocortex. Covariation network analysis using the fetal neocortex data reveals known and novel interactions among genes central to neural progenitor proliferation and neuronal differentiation. In the organoid, we detect diverse progenitors and differentiated cell types of neuronal and mesenchymal lineages, and identify cells that derived from regions resembling the fetal neocortex. We find that these organoid cortical cells use gene expression programs remarkably similar to those of the fetal tissue in order to organize into cerebral cortex-like regions. Our comparison of in vivo and in vitro cortical single cell transcriptomes illuminates the genetic features underlying human cortical development that can be studied in organoid cultures.
Project description:We developed a human cerebral organoid model derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with targeted genome editing to abolish protein expression of the Contactin Associated Protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk gene, mimicking loss-of-function mutations seen in patients. CNTNAP2-/- cerebral organoids displayed accelerated cell cycle, ventricular zone disorganisation and increased cortical folding. Proteomic analysis revealed disruptions in glutamatergic/GABAergic synaptic pathways and neurodevelopment, highlighting increased protein expression of corticogenesis and neurodevelopment-related genes such as Forkhead box protein G1 (FOXG1) and Paired box 6 (PAX6). Transcriptomic analysis revealed differentially expressed genes (DEG) belonging to inhibitory neuron-related gene networks. Interestingly, there was a weak correlation between the transcriptomic and proteomic data, suggesting nuanced translational control mechanisms. Along these lines we find upregulated Protein Kinase B (Akt)/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling in CNTNAP2-/- organoids. Spatial transcriptomics analysis of CNTNAP2-/- ventricular zones demonstrated pervasive changes in gene expression, particularly in PAX6- cells, implicating upregulation of cell cycle regulation pathways, synaptic and glutamatergic/GABAergic pathways. We noted a significant overlap of all omics datasets with idiopathic ASD (macrocephaly) iPSC-derived telencephalic organoids DEG, where FOXG1 was upregulated, along with aberrant expression of Glutamate decarboxylase 1 (GAD1) and T-Box Brain Transcription Factor 1 (TBR1), suggesting altered GABAergic/glutamatergic neuron development. These findings potentially highlight a shared mechanism in the early cortical development of various forms of ASD, further elucidate the role of CNTNAP2 in ASD pathophysiology and cortical development and pave the way for targeted therapies using cerebral organoids as preclinical models.
Project description:To explore the mechanism for the role of CTCLduring cortical development, we compaired the transcriptomes of shCtrl and shCTCL organoids by bulk sequencing
Project description:Epigenetic regulation is essential for the normal development of human cerebral cortex, and its disruptions would lead to diverse neurodevelopmental disorders. The epigenetic co-repressor CDYL exhibits widespread expression across various cell clusters within the human embryonic cortex, yet its roles in this intricate process have remained elusive. Here, we show that CDYL is critical for cortical neurogenesis, and CDYL deficiency led to an augmentation in the generation of GABAergic neurons instead of cortical progenitors and neurons in the cortical organoid model. Combining analysis of bulk RNA-seq and ChIP seq, we identified NNAT as a significant CDYL target by H3K27me3 modification, crucial for the fate determination of neural stem cells within human cortical organoids, distinctly diverging from the murine cortex at a similar developmental stage. Collectively, our study sheds light on the critical function of CDYL in the maintenance of cortical neural stem cell fate commitment during human corticogenesis through the inhibition of NNAT expression.
Project description:Epigenetic regulation is essential for the normal development of human cerebral cortex, and its disruptions would lead to diverse neurodevelopmental disorders. The epigenetic co-repressor CDYL exhibits widespread expression across various cell clusters within the human embryonic cortex, yet its roles in this intricate process have remained elusive. Here, we show that CDYL is critical for cortical neurogenesis, and CDYL deficiency led to an augmentation in the generation of GABAergic neurons instead of cortical progenitors and neurons in the cortical organoid model. Combining analysis of bulk RNA-seq and ChIP seq, we identified NNAT as a significant CDYL target by H3K27me3 modification, crucial for the fate determination of neural stem cells within human cortical organoids, distinctly diverging from the murine cortex at a similar developmental stage. Collectively, our study sheds light on the critical function of CDYL in the maintenance of cortical neural stem cell fate commitment during human corticogenesis through the inhibition of NNAT expression.