Project description:The hypothalamus is the brain region that regulates systemic body metabolism and multiple functions in other brain regions. In adult mice, the hypothalamus harbors neural stem/precursor cell (NSC)-like cells. Along with the dysregulation of body metabolism and physiology that occurs during aging, the NSC population in the hypothalamus declines with age. Here, we introduce a novel protocol that yields scalable and storable hypothalamus-specific NSCs (htNSCs) from hypothalamus-like organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Implanting htNSCs into the medio-basal hypothalami of aged mice conspicuously ameliorated age-related declines in metabolic fitness, physical capacity, and cognitive function and produced corresponding histologic changes in various body tissues. Single transcriptome and immunohistochemical analyses of the grafted hypothalamic tissues showed that the anti-aging effects were attained by correcting glial NF-κB, TNFα, and NLRP3 inflammasome pathways. Collectively, our findings support the potential of anti- or healthy aging therapies that target htNSCs and hypothalamic inflammation.
Project description:The hypothalamus is a region of the brain that plays an important role in regulating body functions and behaviors. There is a growing interest in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for modeling diseases that affect the hypothalamus. Here, we established an hPSC-derived hypothalamus organoid differentiation protocol to model the cellular diversity of this brain region. Using an hPSC line with a tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-TdTomato reporter for dopaminergic neurons (DNs) and other TH-expressing cells, we interrogated DN-specific pathways and functions in electrophysiologically active hypothalamus organoids. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) revealed diverse neuronal and non-neuronal cell types in mature hypothalamus organoids. We identified several molecularly distinct hypothalamic DN subtypes which demonstrated different developmental maturities. Our in vitro 3D hypothalamus differentiation protocol can be used to study the development of this critical brain structure and can be applied to disease modeling to generate novel therapeutic approaches for disorders centered around the hypothalamus.
Project description:The hypothalamus is the brain region that regulates systemic body metabolism and multiple functions in other brain regions. In adult mice, the hypothalamus harbors neural stem/precursor cell (NSC)-like cells. Along with the dysregulation of body metabolism and physiology that occurs during aging, the NSC population in the hypothalamus declines with age. Here, we introduce a novel protocol that yields scalable and storable hypothalamus-specific NSCs (htNSCs) from hypothalamus-like organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Implanting htNSCs into the medio-basal hypothalami of aged mice conspicuously ameliorated age-related declines in metabolic fitness, physical capacity, and cognitive function and produced corresponding histologic changes in various body tissues. Single transcriptome and immunohistochemical analyses of the grafted hypothalamic tissues showed that the anti-aging effects were attained by correcting glial NF-κB, TNFα, and NLRP3 inflammasome pathways. Collectively, our findings support the potential of anti- or healthy aging therapies that target htNSCs and hypothalamic inflammation.
Project description:The hypothalamus is the brain region that regulates systemic body metabolism and multiple functions in other brain regions. In adult mice, the hypothalamus harbors neural stem/precursor cell (NSC)-like cells. Along with the dysregulation of body metabolism and physiology that occurs during aging, the NSC population in the hypothalamus declines with age. Here, we introduce a novel protocol that yields scalable and storable hypothalamus-specific NSCs (htNSCs) from hypothalamus-like organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Implanting htNSCs into the medio-basal hypothalami of aged mice conspicuously ameliorated age-related declines in metabolic fitness, physical capacity, and cognitive function and produced corresponding histologic changes in various body tissues. Single transcriptome and immunohistochemical analyses of the grafted hypothalamic tissues showed that the anti-aging effects were attained by correcting glial NF-κB, TNFα, and NLRP3 inflammasome pathways. Collectively, our findings support the potential of anti- or healthy aging therapies that target htNSCs and hypothalamic inflammation.
Project description:Sex Specific Transciption in Human Hypothalamus between 7 male biological samples (2 technical replicates of each) and 5 female biological samples (2 technical replicates of 4 of these). Keywords = human hypothalamus, sex-specific transcription Keywords: other
Project description:Hypothalamus-specific NSCs derived from human brain organoids ameliorate age-associated dysfunction upon transplantation into aged mouse hypothalamus [human bulk RNAseq]
Project description:We profiled gene expression in hypothalamus tissue from F2 progeny from a cross between the outbred M16 (selectively bred for rapid weight gain) and ICR (control) mouse strains. We developed a framework for reconstructing tissue-to-tissue coexpression networks between genes in hypothalamus, liver or hypothalamus tissues that are independent of networks constructed from single tissue analyses. The subnetworks we identify as specific to tissue-to-tissue interactions associate with multiple obesity-relevant biological functions like circadian rhythm, energy balance, stress response, or immune response. Keywords: Tissue profiling in a mouse F2 cross. We analyzed 308 hypothalamus samples.
