A Novel Protocol to Differentiate Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Neuronal microRNAs to Provide a Suitable Cellular Model

作者：Zare Mehrak; Soleimani Masoud; Akbarzadeh Abolfazl; Bakhshandeh Behnaz; Aghaee Bakhtiari Hamid; Zarghami Nosratollah^*

来源：Chemical Biology & Drug Design, 2015, 86(2): 232-238.

DOI：10.1111/cbdd.12485

• cellular model
• iPS cell
• miR-124
• miR-128
• neuronal differentiation

Neurodegenerative diseases are one of the most challenging subjects in medicine. Investigation of their underlying genetic or epigenetic factors is hampered by lack of suitable models. Patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) represent a valuable approach to provide a proper model for poorly understood mechanisms of neuronal diseases and the related drug screenings. miR-124 and miR-128 are the two brain-enriched miRNAs with different time-points of expression during neuronal development. Herein, we transduced human iPS cells with miR-124 and miR-128 harboring lentiviruses sequentially. The transduced plasmids contained GFP and puromycin antibiotic-resistant genes for easier selection and identification. Morphological assessment and immunocytochemistry (overexpressions of beta-tubulin and neuron-specific enolase) confirmed that induced hiPS cells by miR-124 and miR-128 represent similar characteristics to those of mature neurons. In addition, the upregulation of neuron-specific enolase, beta-tubulin, Map2, GFAP, and BDNF was detected by quantitative real-time PCR. In conclusion, it seems that our novel protocol remarks the combinatorial effect of miR-124 and miR-128 on neural differentiation in the absence of any extrinsic factor. Moreover, such cellular models could be used in personalized drug screening and applied for more effective therapies.

• 出版日期2015-8