Sustained synchronized neuronal network activity in a human astrocyte co-culture system

作者：Jacobine Kuijlaars, Tutu Oyelami, Annick Diels, Jutta Rohrbacher, Sofie Versweyveld, Giulia Meneghello, Marianne Tuefferd, Peter Verstraelen, Jan R. Detrez, Marlies Verschuuren, Winnok H. De Vos, Theo Meert, Pieter J. Peeters, Miroslav Cik, Rony Nuydens, Bert Brône, An Verheyen · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.1038/srep36529 · 被引用次数：157 · 研究领域：Neuroscience and Neural Engineering、3D Printing in Biomedical Research、Pluripotent Stem Cells Research

Impaired neuronal network function is a hallmark of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease and is typically studied using genetically modified cellular and animal models. Weak predictive capacity and poor translational value of these models urge for better human derived in vitro models. The implementation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) allows studying pathologies in differentiated disease-relevant and patient-derived neuronal cells. However, the differentiation process and growth conditions of hiPSC-derived neurons are non-trivial. In order to study neuronal network formation and (mal)function in a fully humanized system, we have established an in vitro co-culture model of hiPSC-derived cortical neurons and human primary astrocytes that recapitulates neuronal network synchronization and connectivity within three to four weeks after final plating. Live cell calcium imaging, electrophysiology and high content image analyses revealed an increased maturation of network functionality and synchronicity over time for co-cultures compared to neuronal monocultures. The cells express GABAergic and glutamatergic markers and respond to inhibitors of both neurotransmitter pathways in a functional assay. The combination of this co-culture model with quantitative imaging of network morphofunction is amenable to high throughput screening for lead discovery and drug optimization for neurological diseases.