Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Generation of Human Neurons and Oligodendrocytes from Pluripotent Stem Cells for Modeling Neuron-Oligodendrocyte Interactions

Benedetta Assetta^*1, Changyong Tang^*1,2, Jing Bian^*3, Ryan O'Rourke¹, Kevin Connolly¹, Thomas Brickler³, Sundari Chetty^3,4, Yu-Wen Alvin Huang^1,5,6

¹Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, ²Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, ³Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, ⁴Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, ⁵Department of Neurology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, ⁶Center for Translational Neuroscience, Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science and Brown Institute for Translational Science, Brown University

The neuron-glial interactions in neurodegeneration are not well understood due to inadequate tools and methods. Here, we describe optimized protocols to obtain induced neurons, oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and oligodendrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells and provide examples of the values of these methods in understanding cell-type-specific contributions in Alzheimer’s disease.

Neuroscience

Dissection and Immunohistochemistry of the Drosophila Adult Leg to Detect Changes at the Neuromuscular Junction for an Identified Motor Neuron

Geoff Stilwell¹, Anthony Agudelo^*1,2

¹Department of Biology, Rhode Island College, ²Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

We describe a dissection technique that preserves the architecture of the neuromuscular junction and enables a detailed immunocytochemical study of motor neurons in the adult Drosophila leg.