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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
Investigating the utility of human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons to model ageing and neurodegenerative disease using whole-genome gene expression and splicing analysis
Journal of Neurochemistry, Volume 122, No. 4, Year 2012
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Description
A major goal in regenerative medicine is the predictable manipulation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to defined cell fates that faithfully represent their somatic counterparts. Directed differentiation of hESCs into neuronal populations has galvanized much interest into their potential application in modelling neurodegenerative disease. However, neurodegenerative diseases are age-related, and therefore establishing the maturational comparability of hESC-derived neural derivatives is critical to generating accurate in vitro model systems. We address this issue by comparing genome-wide, exon-specific expression analyses of pluripotent hESCs, multipotent neural precursor cells and a terminally differentiated enriched neuronal population to expression data from post-mortem foetal and adult human brain samples. We show that hESC-derived neuronal cultures (using a midbrain differentiation protocol as a prototypic example of lineage restriction), while successful in generating physiologically functional neurons, are closer to foetal than adult human brain in terms of molecular maturation. These findings suggest that developmental stage has a more dominant influence on the cellular transcriptome than regional identity. In addition, we demonstrate that developmentally regulated gene splicing is common, and potentially a more sensitive measure of maturational state than gene expression profiling alone. In summary, this study highlights the value of genomic indices in refining and validating optimal cell populations appropriate for modelling ageing and neurodegeneration. Neural gene expression - from embryonic cells to human brain We carried out this study to find out how the global gene expression pattern of dopaminergic neuronal cells differentiated from human embryonic stem cells relates to that seen in the human brain. Our data show that differentiated neurons share many of the features of cells in the adult human brain, but more closely match the expression profile exhibited by human foetal brain cells. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Neurochemistry © 2012 International Society for Neurochemistry.
Authors & Co-Authors
Patani, Rickie
Unknown Affiliation
Lewis, Patrick A.
Unknown Affiliation
Trabzuni, Daniah
Unknown Affiliation
Puddifoot, Clare A.
Unknown Affiliation
Wyllie, David J.A.
Unknown Affiliation
Walker, Robert A.
Unknown Affiliation
Smith, Colin Nurse Simon
Unknown Affiliation
Hardingham, Giles E.
Unknown Affiliation
Weale, Michael E.
Unknown Affiliation
Hardy, John A.
Unknown Affiliation
Chandran, Siddharthan
Unknown Affiliation
Ryten, Mina
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 16
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 8
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1471-4159.2012.07825.x
ISSN:
00223042
e-ISSN:
14714159
Research Areas
Cancer
Genetics And Genomics
Health System And Policy
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study