Novel and robust transplantation reveals the acquisition of polarized processes by cortical cells derived from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells

Stem Cells Dev. 2014 Sep 15;23(18):2129-42. doi: 10.1089/scd.2013.0251. Epub 2014 Jan 31.

Abstract

Current stem cell technologies have enabled the induction of cortical progenitors and neurons from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells in vitro. To understand the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of apico-basal polarity and the formation of processes associated with the stemness of cortical cells generated in monolayer culture, here, we developed a novel in utero transplantation system based on the moderate dissociation of adherens junctions in neuroepithelial tissue. This method enables (1) the incorporation of remarkably higher numbers of grafted cells and (2) quantitative morphological analyses at single-cell resolution, including time-lapse recording analyses. We then grafted cortical progenitors induced from mouse ESCs into the developing brain. Importantly, we revealed that the mode of process extension depends on the extrinsic apico-basal polarity of the host epithelial tissue, as well as on the intrinsic differentiation state of the grafted cells. Further, we successfully transplanted cortical progenitors induced from human ESCs, showing that our strategy enables investigation of the neurogenesis of human neural progenitors within the developing mouse cortex. Specifically, human cortical cells exhibit multiple features of radial migration. The robust transplantation method established here could be utilized both to uncover the missing gap between neurogenesis from ESCs and the tissue environment and as an in vivo model of normal and pathological human corticogenesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Polarity* / drug effects
  • Cerebral Cortex / cytology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / embryology
  • Cerebral Cortex / transplantation
  • Cerebral Ventricles / embryology
  • Egtazic Acid / administration & dosage
  • Egtazic Acid / pharmacology
  • Epithelial Cells / cytology
  • Epithelial Cells / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Neurons / cytology
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Pluripotent Stem Cells / transplantation*

Substances

  • Egtazic Acid