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Method Article
We describe the procedure for the in vitro differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into neuronal cells using the hanging drop method. Furthermore, we perform a comprehensive phenotypic analysis through RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence, RNA-seq, and flow cytometry.
We describe the step-by-step procedure for culturing and differentiating mouse embryonic stem cells into neuronal lineages, followed by a series of assays to characterize the differentiated cells. The E14 mouse embryonic stem cells were used to form embryoid bodies through the hanging drop method, and then induced to differentiate into neural progenitor cells by retinoic acid, and finally differentiated into neurons. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunofluorescence experiments revealed that the neural progenitors and neurons exhibit corresponding markers (nestin for neural progenitors and neurofilament for neurons) at day 8 and 12 post-differentiation, respectively. Flow cytometry experiments on an E14 line expressing a Sox1 promoter-driven GFP reporter showed that about 60% of cells at day 8 are GFP positive, indicating the successful differentiation of neural progenitor cells at this stage. Finally, RNA-seq analysis was used to profile the global transcriptomic changes. These methods are useful for analyzing the involvement of specific genes and pathways in regulating the cell identity transition during neuronal differentiation.
Since their first derivation from the inner cell mass of the developing mouse blastocysts1,2, mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC) have been used as powerful tools to study stem cell self-renewal and differentiation3. Furthermore, studying mESC differentiation leads to tremendous understanding of molecular mechanisms that may improve efficiency and safety in stem cell-based therapy in treating diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders4. Compared to animal models, this in vitro system provides many advantages including simplicity in practice and assessment, low cost in maintaining cell lines in contrast to animals, and relative ease in genetic manipulations. However, the efficiency and quality of differentiated cell types are often affected by different lines of mESCs as well as the differentiation methods5,6. Also, the traditional assays to evaluate differentiation efficiency rely on qualitative examination of selected marker genes which lack robustness and they therefore fail to grasp global changes in gene expression.
Here we aim to use a battery of assays for systematic assessment of the neuronal differentiation. Using both traditional in vitro analyses on selected markers and RNA-seq, we establish a platform for measurement of the differentiation efficiency as well as the transcriptomic changes during this process. Based on a previously established protocol7, we generated embryoid bodies (EBs) through the hanging drop technique, followed by induction using supraphysiologic amount of retinoic acid (RA) to generate neural progenitor cells (NPCs), which were subsequently differentiated to neurons with neural induction medium. To examine the efficiency of the differentiation, in addition to traditional RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence (IF) assays, we performed RNA-seq and flow cytometry. These analyses provide comprehensive measurement of the progression of the stage-specific differentiation.
1. mESC culture
2. EB, NPC, and neuron differentiation
3. Characterization of mESCs and differentiated cells
As a representation of our method, we performed an EB, NPC, and neuron differentiation experiment on E14 cells. E14 cells were cultured on γ-irradiated MEFs (Figure 1A) until the γ-irradiated MEF population diluted out. We confirmed the pluripotency of the E14 cells by performing Alkaline Phosphatase (AP) staining (Figure 1B) and later RT-qPCR (see below) for Nanog and Oct4 markers. The γ-irradiated MEF-free E14 cells were then i...
The method for neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells has been established for decades and researchers have continued to modify the previous protocols or create new ones for various purposes7,10,11. We utilized a series of assays to comprehensively analyze the efficiency and progress of the differentiation stages of mESCs to neurons, which may be used in analysis of other lineage differentiation of mouse or human E...
Authors declare that there are no competing financial interests.
This work was supported by a grant from the NIH (1R35GM133496-01) to Z. Gao. We would like to thank Dr. Ryan Hobbs for the assistance in sectioning. We thank Penn State College of Medicine's core facilities, including the Genome Sciences and Bioinformatics, the Advanced Light Microscopy Imaging, and the Flow Cytometry. We also thank Dr. Yuka Imamura for the assistance in RNA-seq analysis.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
0.05% Trypsin + 0.53mM EDTA 1X | Corning | 25-052-CV | |
0.1% Gelatin | Sigma | G1890-100G | Prepared in de-ionized water |
16% Paraformaldehyde | Thermo Scientific | 28908 | Diluted in 1X PBS |
40-μm cell strainer | Falcon | 352340 | |
Albumax | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 11020021 | |
AlexaFluor 488 goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) | Invitrogen | A11001 | Antibody was diluted at 1:500 for IF |
Alkaline Phosphatase Staining Kit II | Stemgent | 00-0055 | |
AzuraQuant Green Fast qPCR Mix LoRox | Azura Genomics | AZ-2105 | |
B27 supplement | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 17504044 | |
BD FACSCanto | BD | 657338 | |
bFGF | Sigma | 11123149001 | |
BioAnalyzer High Sensitivity DNA Kit | Agilent | 5067-4626 | |
Chir99021 | Cayman Chemicals | 13122 | |
Chloroform | C298-500 | Fisher Chemical | |
DAPI | Invitrogen | R37606 | |
DMEM | Corning | 10-017-CM | |
DMEM/F12 medium | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 11320033 | |
EB buffer | Qiagen | 19086 | |
Ethanol | 111000200 | Pharmco | Diluted in de-ionized water |
Fetal bovine serum | Atlanta Biologicals | S10250 | |
Fisherbrand Superfrost Plus Microscope Slides | Fisher Scientific | 12-550-15 | |
HiSeq 2500 Sequencing System | Illumina | SY-401-2501 | |
Isopropanol | BDH1133-4LG | BDH VWR Analytical | Diluted in de-ionized water |
L-glutamine | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 25030024 | |
LIF | N/A | N/A | Collected from MEF supernatant |
m18srRNA primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-GCAATTATTCCCCATGAACG-3' 5'-GGCCTCACTAAACCATCCAA-3' |
MEM Non-essential amino acids | Corning | 25-025-Cl | |
mNanog primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-AGGCTTTGGAGACAGTGAGGTG-3' 5'-TGGGTAAGGGTGTTCAAGCACT-3' |
mNes primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-AGTGCCCAGTTCTAGTGGTGTCC-3' 5'-CCTCTAAAATAGAGTGGTGAGGGTTG-3' |
mNeuroD1 primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-CGAGTCATGAGTGCCCAGCTTA-3' 5'-CCGGGAATAGTGAAACTGACGTG-3' |
mOct4 primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-AGATCACTCACATCGCCAATCA-3' 5'-CGCCGGTTACAGAACCATACTC-3' |
mPax6 primers | IDTDNA | N/A | 5'-CTTGGGAAATCCGAGACAGA-3' 5'-CTAGCCAGGTTGCGAAGAAC-3' |
N2 supplement | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 17502048 | |
Nestin primary antibody | Millipore | MAB5326 | Antibody was diluted at 1:200 for IF |
Neural basal | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 21103049 | |
Neurofilament primary antibody | DSHB | 2H3 | |
NEXTflex Illumina Rapid Directional RNA-Seq Library Prep Kit | BioO Scientific | NOVA-5138-07 | |
PD0325901 | Cayman Chemicals | 13034 | |
Penicillin/streptomycin | Corning | 30-002-Cl | |
Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) | N/A | N/A | Prepared in de-ionized water |
- Potassium chloride | P217-500G | VWR | |
- Potassium phosphate monobasic anhydrous | 0781-500G | VWR | |
- Sodium chloride | BP358-10 | Fisher Bioreagents | |
- Sodium phosphate, dibasic, heptahydrate | SX0715-1 | Milipore | |
Random hexamer primer | Thermo Scientific | SO142 | |
Retinoic acid | Sigma | R2625 | Prepared in DMSO |
Sodium pyruvate | Corning | 25-000-Cl | |
Sucrose | Sigma | 84097 | Diluted in 1X PBS |
SuperScript III Reverse Transcriptase | Invitrogen | 18064022 | |
Tissue-Tek O.C.T. compound | Sakura | 4583 | |
TriPure Isolation Reagent | Sigma-Aldrich | 11667165001 | |
TruSeq Rapid | Illumina | 20020616 | |
β-mercaptoethanol | Fisher BioReagents | BP176-100 |
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