Establishment of an Electrophysiological Platform for Modeling ALS with Regionally-Specific Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Astrocytes and Neurons

Summary

We describe a method for differentiating spinal cord human induced pluripotent-derived astrocytes and neurons and their co-culture for electrophysiological recording.

Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes (hiPSC-A) and neurons (hiPSC-N) provide a powerful tool for modeling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) pathophysiology in vitro. Multi-electrode array (MEA) recordings are a means to record electrical field potentials from large populations of neurons and analyze network activity over time. It was previously demonstrated that the presence of hiPSC-A that are differentiated using techniques to promote a spinal cord astrocyte phenotype improved maturation and electrophysiological activity of regionally specific spinal cord hiPSC-motor neurons (MN) when compared to those cultured without hiPSC-A or in the presence of rodent astrocytes. Described here is a method to co-culture spinal cord hiPSC-A with hiPSC-MN and record electrophysiological activity using MEA recordings. While the differentiation protocols described here are particular to astrocytes and neurons that are regionally specific to the spinal cord, the co-culturing platform can be applied to astrocytes and neurons differentiated with techniques specific to other fates, including cortical hiPSC-A and hiPSC-N. These protocols aim to provide an electrophysiological assay to inform about glia-neuron interactions and provide a platform for testing drugs with therapeutic potential in ALS.

Introduction

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes (hiPSC-A) and neurons (hiPSC-N) are powerful tools for modeling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) pathophysiology in vitro and provide a translational paradigm for drug discovery strategies¹. Researchers have demonstrated that the co-culture of hiPSC-A with hiPSC-N enhances the morphological, molecular, electrophysiological, and pharmacological maturation of both cell types, generating complex neuronal networks and astrocyte-neuron interactions that resemble their in vivo counterparts^2,3. Similar co-culture experiments c....

Protocol

1. Cell culture media preparation

1. Prepare the individual cell culture media using the compositions mentioned in Table 1.
2. Mix and sterile filter the media in 500 mL filtered bottles, and store protected from light at 4 °C for up to 2 weeks.

2. Maintaining and passaging non-confluent human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSC)

1. Thaw the basement membrane matrix (stored in aliquots at -80 °C) in a 2-8 °C refrigerator overnig.......

Discussion

To date, hiPSC- and MEA-based methods for electrophysiological recordings of astrocyte-neuron co-cultures have found limited application in the field of ALS⁶ and still not in fully human platforms, in contrast to their more widespread use for in vitro modeling of epilepsy⁹. This platform, however, has the potential to address pathophysiologically relevant questions in ALS research, such as the mechanisms of neuronal hyperexcitability, astrocyte contribution to neur.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
10 cm sterile culture plates	Falcon	353003
25 cm2 sterile culture flasks	Falcon	353136
2-Mercaptoethanol (β-ME)	Thermofisher	21985023	Working concentration 110 µM
500 mL 0.2 µm CA Filter System	Corning	430769
5 mL pipette	Falcon	357543
6 well sterile culture plates	Falcon	3046
Amphotericine B	Gibco	15290018	Working concentration 2.0 μg/mL
Anionic detergent with protease enzyme - Terg-A-Zyme	Sigma-Aldrich	Z273287	Working concentration 1% m/v
Ascorbic acid (ASAC)	Sigma	A4403	Dissolve 100 mg into 250 mL of dH2O to get 0.4mg/ml stock. Sterile filter through a 0.22 µm filter, aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1:1000 for use. (working concentration 0.4 µg/mL).
Axion CytoView MEA 24 plates (M384-tMEA-24W)	Axion	OPT-24
Axion Edge MEA platform	Axion	Maestro Edge
Basement Membrane matrix - Matrigel	Corning	354277	Details in the protocol
Benchtop microscope (sterile under cell culture hood)	Zeiss	415510-1100-000	Primo Vert
Bicuculline	Sigma Aldrich	14340	Working concentration10 μM
Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF)	Peprotech	450-13	Dissolve 100 µg in 1mL of sterile PBS, and then add 9 mL of sterile 0.1% BSA-PBS to 10 µg/mL. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1: 1000 for use. (working concentration 10 ng/mL).
CO2 tanks and regulator for Axion Edge	AirGas/Harris	9296NC
Compound E	Abcam	ab142164	Dissolve 250 µg in 2.0387 mL of DMSO to get a 250 µM stock. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute 1:2000 for use. (working concentration 125 nM).
Cyanquixaline  (CNQX)	Sigma Aldrich	C239	Working concentration 50 μM
Dihydrokainic acid (DHK)	Tocris	111	Working concentration 50 μM and 300 μM
DMEM/F12	Thermofisher	113300	Working concentration 1x
Essential 8 Medium + Essential 8 Supplement	Thermofisher	A1517001	Combine 10 mL of Essential 8 (10x)  supplement with 500 mL of Essential 8 Growth Medium (1x)
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)	Thermofisher	16140071	Working concentration 1x
Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic (GDNF)	Peprotech	450-10	Dissolve 100 µg in 1mL of PBS to 100 µg/mL, and then add 9 mL of sterile 0.1% BSA-PBS to 10 µg/mL. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1: 1000 for use. (working concentration 10 ng/mL).
Hemocytometer	Election Microscopy Sciences	63510-20
Heparin	Millipore-sigma	H3149-100KU	Dissolve 200 mg in 100 mL of PBS to get 2 mg/mL stock solution. Aliquot the stock in 15 mL and 500 µL tubes. Dilute 1:1000 for use. (working concentration 2 µg/mL).
Humidity controlled Cell culture incubator	ThermoFisher	370	set to 37 ºC, 5 % CO2
Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)	R&D systems	291-G1-200	Dissolve 200 µg in 2 mL of PBS to 100 µg/mL, then add 18 mL of 0.1%BSA-PBS to make 10 µg/mL stock and store at -80 ºC. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute 10 µg/mL stock at 1: 1000 for use. (working concentration 10 ng/mL).
Kainc acid	Abcam	ab144490	Working concentration 5 μM
Knockout Serum Replacement (KSR)	Thermofisher	10828	Working concentration 1x
Laminin	Thermofisher	23017-015	Stock solution 1 mg/mL, working concentration 10 µg/mL (coating), 1 µg/mL (cell media)
LDN193189	Stemgent	04-0074	Dissolve 2 mg of LDN into 500 µL of Chloroform to get 10 mM stock. Aliquot this and freeze at -80 ºC. For using, dilute the stock 1 to 10 into DMSO [to 1 mM] first, then dilute 1:5000 of 1 mM into the desired media to get 0.2 µM working solution
L-Glutamine	Thermofisher	25030	Working concentration 100x
MEA glass plates	MultiChannel Systems	60MEA200/30iR-Ti-gr
Multichannel Pipet P200	Gilson	PJ22224
Neurobasal	Thermofisher	21103049	Working concentration 1x
Non-Essential Amino Acids (NEAA)	Thermofisher	11140050	Working concentration 100x
Pencillin/Streptomycin	Thermofisher	15140122	Working concentration 100x
Polyornithine (PLO)	Sigma-Aldrich	P3655	Dissolve 100 mg in 1 mL of ddW to get 100 mg/mL stock solution. Aliquot the stock in 100 µL tubes. (working concentration 100 µg/mL)
Potassium chloride (KCl)	NA	NA	Working concentration100 mM
Purmorphamine (PMN)	Millipore-Sigma	540223	Dissolve 5 mg in 9.6 mL of DMSO to get 1 mM solution. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute 1:1000 for use. (working concentration 1 µM).
Recombinant human-brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)	Peprotech	450-02	Centrifuge briefly before reconstitution. Dissolve 100 µg in 1 mL of PBS to 100 µg/mL, and then add 9 mL of sterile 0.1% BSA-PBS to 10 µg/mL. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1: 1000 for use. (working concentration 10 ng/mL).
Retinoic acid (RA)	Sigma	R2625	Dissolve 100 mg into 3.3 mL of DMSO to get 100 mM stock solution. Aliquot the stock 100 µL/tube and freeze at -80 ºC. Take 200 µL of 100 mM stock and dilute 10x (add 1.8 mL of DMSO) to make 10 mM stock. Aliquot 50 µL/tube and store at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1:10000 for use. (working concentration 2 µM).
ROCK-I nhibitor	Peprotech	1293823	Dissolve 5 mg in 1480 µL of dH2O to get 10 mM stock, aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1: 500 for use. (working concentration 20 µM).
SB431542	Sigma	S4317	Dissolve 5mg into 1.3 mL of DMSO to get 10 mM stock solution. Aliquot and freeze at -80 ºC. Dilute at 1:1000 for use. (working con 10 µM)
Sterile cell culture hoods	Baker Company	SG-600
Supplement B - B27 Supplement	Thermofisher	21985023	Working concentration 50x
Supplement N - N2 Supplement	Thermofisher	17502048	Working concentration 100x
Table top cell culture centrifuge	ThermoFisher	75004261	Sorvall Legend X1R
Thermoplastic film - Parafilm	PARAFILM	P7793
Tissue dissociation protease - Dispase	StemCell Technologies	7923	Working concentration 1x
Trypsin Inhibitor	Sigma	T6522-1G	Dissolve 1g in 100mL ddH2O to get 10 mg/mL stock. Aliquot and store at 4 ºC. Dilute 1:10 of trypsin volume for use. (working concentration 1 mg/mL).
Trypsin-EDTA (0.05%)	Thermofisher	2530054	Working concentration 1x
Waterbath	ThermoFisher	2332	Isotemp