High-Content Screening Differentiation and Maturation Analysis of Fetal and Adult Neural Stem Cell-Derived Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cell Cultures

Summary

We describe the production of mixed cultures of astrocytes and oligodendrocyte precursor cells derived from fetal or adult neural stem cells differentiating into mature oligodendrocytes, and in vitro modeling of noxious stimuli. The coupling with a cell-based high-content screening technique builds a reliable and robust drug screening system.

Abstract

The main hurdle in developing drug screening techniques for assessing the efficacy of therapeutic strategies in complex diseases is striking a balance between in vitro simplification and recreating the complex in vivo environment, along with the main aim, shared by all screening strategies, of obtaining robust and reliable data, highly predictive for in vivo translation.

In the field of demyelinating diseases, the majority of drug screening strategies are based on immortalized cell lines or pure cultures of isolated primary oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) from newborn animals, leading to strong biases due to the lack of age-related differences and of any real pathological condition or complexity.

Here we show the setup of an in vitro system aimed at modeling the physiological differentiation/maturation of neural stem cell (NSC)-derived OPCs, easily manipulated to mimic pathological conditions typical of demyelinating diseases. Moreover, the method includes isolation from fetal and adult brains, giving a system which dynamically differentiates from OPCs to mature oligodendrocytes (OLs) in a spontaneous co-culture which also includes astrocytes. This model physiologically resembles the thyroid hormone-mediated myelination and myelin repair process, allowing the addition of pathological interferents which model disease mechanisms. We show how to mimic the two main components of demyelinating diseases (i.e., hypoxia/ischemia and inflammation), recreating their effect on developmental myelination and adult myelin repair and taking all the cell components of the system into account throughout, while focusing on differentiating OPCs.

This spontaneous mixed model, coupled with cell-based high-content screening technologies, allows the development of a robust and reliable drug screening system for therapeutic strategies aimed at combating the pathological processes involved in demyelination and at inducing remyelination.

Introduction

In the central nervous system (CNS), myelin forming cells (oligodendrocytes, OLs) and their precursors (oligodendrocyte precursor cells, OPCs) are responsible for developmental myelination, a process which occurs during the peri- and post-natal periods, and for myelin turnover and repair (remyelination) in adulthood¹. These cells are highly specialized, interacting anatomically and functionally with all the other glial and neuronal components, making them a fundamental part of CNS structure and function.

Demyelinating events are involved in different CNS injuries and diseases², and mainly act ....

Protocol

All animal protocols described herein were carried out according to European Community Council Directives (86/609/EEC) and comply with the guidelines published in the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

1. Solutions and reagents

1. Prepare standard medium: DMEM/F12 GlutaMAX 1x; 8 mmol/L HEPES; 100 U/100 μg Penicillin/Streptomycin (1% P/S); 1x B27; 1x N-2.
2. Prepare neurosphere medium: add 10 ng/mL bFGF; 10 ng/mL EGF to standard medium.

Discussion

The complex nature of myelination/remyelination processes and demyelinating events makes the development of predictive in vitro systems extremely challenging. The most widely used in vitro drug screening systems are mostly human cell lines or primary pure OL cultures, with increasing use of more complex co-cultures or organotypic systems¹⁵. Even if such systems are coupled with high content technologies, pure OL cultures remain the method of choice when developing screening platforms

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
96-well plates - untreated	NUNC	267313
B27 supplement (100x)	GIBCO	17504-044
basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (bFGF)	GIBCO	PHG0024
BSA	Sigma-Aldrich	A2153
Ciliary Neurotropic Factor (CNTF)	GIBCO	PHC7015
DMEM w/o glucose	GIBCO	A14430-01
DMEM/F12 GlutaMAX	GIBCO	31331-028
DNase	Sigma-Aldrich	D5025-150KU
EBSS	GIBCO	14155-048
Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF)	GIBCO	PHG6045
HBSS	GIBCO	14170-088
HEPES	GIBCO	15630-056
Hyaluronidase	Sigma-Aldrich	H3884
IFN-γ	Origene	TP721239
IL-17A	Origene	TP723199
IL-1β	Origene	TP723210
IL-6	Origene	TP723240
laminin	GIBCO	23017-051
N-acetyl-L-cysteine	Sigma-Aldrich	A9165
N2 supplement (50x)	GIBCO	17502-048
Non-enzymatic dissociation buffer	GIBCO	13150-016
PBS	GIBCO	70011-036
Penicillin / Streptomycin	Sigma-Aldrich	P4333
Platelet Derived Growth Factor (PDGF-AA)	GIBCO	PHG0035
poly-D,L-ornitine	Sigma-Aldrich	P4957
TGF-β1	Origene	TP720760
TNF-α	Origene	TP723451
Triiodothyronine	Sigma-Aldrich	T2752-1G
Trypsin	Sigma-Aldrich	T1426