Project description:A major barrier to research on Parkinson’s disease (PD) is inaccessibility of diseased tissue for study. One solution is to derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients with PD and differentiate them into neurons affected by disease. We created an iPSC model of PD caused by triplication of SNCA encoding ?-synuclein. ?-Synuclein dysfunction is common to all forms of PD, and SNCA triplication leads to fully penetrant familial PD with accelerated pathogenesis. After differentiation of iPSCs into neurons enriched for midbrain dopaminergic subtypes, those from the patient contain double ?-synuclein protein compared to those from an unaffected relative, precisely recapitulating the cause of PD in these individuals. A measurable biomarker makes this model ideal for drug screening for compounds that reduce levels of ?-synuclein, and for mechanistic experiments to study PD pathogenesis. This SNP microarray study was carried out to confirm presence of SNCA triplication in the affected subject and the derived cell lines. 11 samples were analysed: genomic DNA from the two subjects in the study, the two parent fibroblast lines (AST denoting alpha-synuclein triplication and NAS denoting normal alpha-synuclein), two iPSC lines from each parent fibroblast line (four in total), a human embryonic stem cell line (SHEF4) and two neuronal samples one each from AST and NAS iPSCs).
Project description:SNCA, the first gene associated with Parkinson’s disease, encodes the α-synuclein protein, the predominant component within pathological inclusions termed Lewy bodies. We use 3D midbrain organoids, differentiated from human induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients carrying a triplication of the SNCA gene and from CRISPR/Cas9 corrected isogenic control iPSCs. These human midbrain organoids recapitulate key features of α-synuclein pathology observed in the brains of patients with synucleinopathies. We used single cell RNA sequencing to characterize the cell types within these organoids. We find an equal proportion of neuronal and glial cells. The neuronal populations consist of dopmainergic, excitatory and inhibitory neurons in early and late stages of maturation as well as neural precursor cells. The glial populations consist of dividing radial glia, radial glia, astrocytes and early oligodendorcytes.
Project description:A major barrier to research on Parkinson’s disease (PD) is inaccessibility of diseased tissue for study. One solution is to derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients with PD and differentiate them into neurons affected by disease. We created an iPSC model of PD caused by triplication of SNCA encoding α-synuclein. α-Synuclein dysfunction is common to all forms of PD, and SNCA triplication leads to fully penetrant familial PD with accelerated pathogenesis. After differentiation of iPSCs into neurons enriched for midbrain dopaminergic subtypes, those from the patient contain double α-synuclein protein compared to those from an unaffected relative, precisely recapitulating the cause of PD in these individuals. A measurable biomarker makes this model ideal for drug screening for compounds that reduce levels of α-synuclein, and for mechanistic experiments to study PD pathogenesis. This gene expression microarray study was carried out as part of the validation process for demonstrating that the generated iPSC lines are pluripotent. 15 samples were analysed: the two parent fibroblast lines (AST denoting alpha-synuclein triplication and NAS denoting normal alpha-synuclein), two iPSC lines from each parent fibroblast line (four in total), a human embryonic stem cell line (SHEF4) and eight neuronal samples (each iPSC line differentiated into a neuronal population enriched for dopaminergic neurons, at two different time points).
Project description:Individuals with Down syndrome (DS, Ts21) have impaired neurogenesis during development. Using Ts21 human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and isogenic controls, we carried out single cell RNA-sequencing of Ts21 interneuron progenitors .
Project description:au06-03_tsn_fj - tsn_fj - Root transcriptome of the tsn1 tsn2 double mutant - Comparison of a tsn1 tsn2 double mutant line (A10.9.3- or A13.3.11-) and an isogenic line complemented by TSN2 (A10.9.5) or TSN1 (A13.3.2) Keywords: gene knock in (transgenic),gene knock out
Project description:A major barrier to research on Parkinson’s disease (PD) is inaccessibility of diseased tissue for study. One solution is to derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients with PD and differentiate them into neurons affected by disease. We created an iPSC model of PD caused by triplication of SNCA encoding α-synuclein. α-Synuclein dysfunction is common to all forms of PD, and SNCA triplication leads to fully penetrant familial PD with accelerated pathogenesis. After differentiation of iPSCs into neurons enriched for midbrain dopaminergic subtypes, those from the patient contain double α-synuclein protein compared to those from an unaffected relative, precisely recapitulating the cause of PD in these individuals. A measurable biomarker makes this model ideal for drug screening for compounds that reduce levels of α-synuclein, and for mechanistic experiments to study PD pathogenesis. This gene expression microarray study was carried out as part of the validation process for demonstrating that the generated iPSC lines are pluripotent. 5 samples were analysed: two clonal iPSC lines from each of two genotypes (four in total; AST denoting alpha-synuclein triplication and NAS denoting normal alpha-synuclein), a human embryonic stem cell line (SHEF4). All cultured in self-renewal conditions, mTeSR1
Project description:Human pluripotent stem cells can be derived from somatic cells by forced expression of defined factors, and more recently by nuclear-transfer into human oocytes, revitalizing a debate on whether one reprogramming approach might be advantageous over the other. Here we compared the genetic and epigenetic stability of human nuclear-transfer embryonic stem cell (NT-ESC) lines and isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, derived from the same somatic cell cultures of fetal, neonatal and adult origin. Both cell types shared similar genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation profiles. Importantly, NT-ESCs and iPSCs have comparable numbers of de novo coding mutations but significantly higher than parthenogenetic ESCs. Similar to iPSCs NT-ESCs displayed clone- and gene-specific aberrations in DNA methylation and allele-specific expression of imprinted genes, similarly to iPSCs. The occurrence of these genetic and epigenetic defects in both NT-ESCs and iPSCs suggests that they are inherent to reprogramming, regardless of the underlying technique. RNA sequencing analysis was performed on a total of 12 human cell lines, including: an isogenic set of 3 nuclear-transfer embryonic stem cell (NT-ESC) lines, 2 RNA-reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines and their parental neonatal fibroblast cell line; an isogenic set of 1 NT-ESC line, 3 iPSC lines and their parental adult fibroblast cell line (derived from a type 1 diabetic subject); as well as 1 control embryonic stem cell (ESC) line.
Project description:Alpha-synuclein (αSyn) protein levels correlate with the risk and severity of Parkinson's disease and related neurodegenerative diseases. Lowering αSyn is being actively investigated as a therapeutic modality. Here we systematically map the regulatory network that controls endogenous αSyn using sequential CRISPR-knockout and -interference screens in αSyn gene(SNCA) tagged cell lines and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons (iNeurons). We uncover αSyn modifiers at multiple regulatory layers, with N-terminal acetyltransferase B (NatB) enzymes being the most potent endogenous αSyn modifier in both cell lines. N-terminal acetylation protects the cytosolic αSyn from rapid degradation by the proteasome in a Ube2Wdependent manner. Moreover, we show that pharmacological inhibition of methionylaminopeptidase 2 (METAP2), a regulator of NatB complex formation, attenuates endogenous αSyn in iNeurons carrying SNCA triplication. Together, our study reveals several gene networks that control endogenous αSyn, identifies mechanisms mediating the degradation of nonacetylated αSyn and illustrates potential therapeutic pathways for decreasing αSyn levels in synucleinopathies.