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A novel hydrogel-based instructive biohybrid 3D culture system for modeling human neural stem cell plasticity, neurogenesis, neurodevelopment, and neurodegeneration

ABSTRACT: Meaningful models of human neural development and neurodegeneration are extremely important when exploring stem-cell-based regenerative therapies. However, existing 3D cultures fall short of being highly defined, modular, and controllable. Adapting a glycosaminoglycan-based, cell-responsive hydrogel platform, we stimulated primary and induced human neural stem cells (NSCs) to manifest neurogenic plasticity and form extensive neuronal networks in vitro. The 3D cultures exhibited neurotransmitter responsiveness, electrophysiological activity, and tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. By whole transcriptome sequencing, we identified that 3D cultures express mature neuronal markers, and reflect the in vivo genetic program of mature cortical neurons compared to 2D cultures. Thus, our data suggest that our established 3D hydrogel culture supports the tissue-mimetic maturation of human neurons in an unprecedented manner. We modeled neurodegenerative conditions by treating the cultures with A?42 peptide and observed the known human pathological effects of Alzheimer?s disease including reduced NSC proliferation, impaired neuronal network formation, synaptic loss and failure in ECM deposition as well as elevated Tau hyperphosphorylation and formation of neurofibrillary tangles. We also determined the changes in transcriptomes of primary and induced NSC-derived neurons after A?42, providing a useful resource for further studies. Thus, our hydrogel-based human cortical 3D cell culture is a powerful platform for studying various aspects of neural development and neurodegeneration, as exemplified for A?42 toxicity and neurogenic stem cell plasticity.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE78117 | GEO | 2020/01/01

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) represent an unlimited cell source for the generation of in vitro models of patient-specific dopaminergic (DA) neurons, posing a possibility to overcome the restricted accessibility to disease-affected tissue for mechanistic studies on Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the complexity of the human brain is not fully recapitulated by existing monolayer culture methods. Consequently, neurons differentiated in a three dimensional (3D) in vitro culture system might better mimic the in vivo cellular environment for basic mechanistic studies and represent better predictors of drug responses in vivo. Thus, in this work we established a new in vitro cell culture model based on the microencapsulation of hiPSCs in small alginate/fibronectin beads and their differentiation to DA neurons. Optimisation of hydrogel matrix concentrations and composition resulted in high viability of embedded iPSCs. Neural differentiation capacity and DA neuronal yield, analyzed by qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence, and western blot analyses, were increased in the 3D neuronal cultures compared to neurons generated using the conventional 2D culture system. Additionally, electrophysiological parameters and metabolic switching profile supported the increased functionality and an anticipated metabolic resetting of neurons grown in alginate scaffolds with respect to the 2D neurons. We also report long-term maintenance of neuronal cultures and mature functional properties. Furthermore, our findings indicate that our 3D model system can recapitulate mitochondrial superoxide production as an important mitochondrial phenotype observed in PD patients’-derived neurons and that this phenotype might be detectable earlier during neuronal differentiation. Taken together, these results indicate that our alginate-based 3D culture system offers an advantageous strategy for the reliable and rapid derivation of mature and functional DA neurons from iPSCs.

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A novel hydrogel-based instructive biohybrid 3D culture system for modeling human neural stem cell plasticity, neurogenesis, neurodevelopment, and neurodegeneration

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