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This protocol describes the differentiation process of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into microglia-like cells for in vitro experimentation. We also include a detailed procedure for generating human synaptosomes from iPSC-derived lower motor neurons that can be used as a substrate for in vitro phagocytosis assays using live-cell imaging systems.
Microglia are the resident immune cells of myeloid origin that maintain homeostasis in the brain microenvironment and have become a key player in multiple neurological diseases. Studying human microglia in health and disease represents a challenge due to the extremely limited supply of human cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from human individuals can be used to circumvent this barrier. Here, it is demonstrated how to differentiate human iPSCs into microglia-like cells (iMGs) for in vitro experimentation. These iMGs exhibit the expected and physiological properties of microglia, including microglia-like morphology, expression of proper markers, and active phagocytosis. Additionally, documentation for isolating and labeling synaptosome substrates derived from human iPSC-derived lower motor neurons (i3LMNs) is provided. A live-cell, longitudinal imaging assay is used to monitor engulfment of human synaptosomes labeled with a pH-sensitive dye, allowing for investigations of iMG's phagocytic capacity. The protocols described herein are broadly applicable to different fields that are investigating human microglia biology and the contribution of microglia to disease.
Microglia are the resident immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and play a crucial role in developing the CNS. Microglia are also important in the adult brain for maintaining homeostasis and actively responding to trauma and disease processes. Cumulative evidence shows that microglia are key contributors to the pathogenesis of multiple neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases1,2. Although current knowledge about microglial biology has been predominately derived from mouse models, recent studies have elucidated important differences between murine and human microglia, underscoring the need ....
NOTE: All the reagents used in this protocol must be sterile, and all the steps must be performed in a biosafety cabinet under sterile conditions. All the iPSC lines, as well as maintenance and differentiation media, are described in the Table of Materials. The microglia differentiation method illustrated below is based on previously published protocols7,8,12 with new modifications described herein.
1. Microglia differentiation
NOTE: An overview of the protocol is summarized in
To generate iMGs using this protocol, it is important to start with undifferentiated iPSCs that show compact colony morphology with well-defined edges (Figure 2A). Dissociated iPSCs maintained as described in the EB formation section will form spherical aggregates, termed EBs, which will grow in size until day 4 of differentiation (Figure 2B). Once the EBs are collected and plated in the appropriate conditions for PMP generation, they attach to the Matrigel-coat.......
The differentiation protocol described here provides an efficient method to obtain iPSC-derived microglia-like cells in ~6-8 weeks with high purity and in a sufficient yield to perform immunofluorescence experiments and other assays that require a higher number of cells. This protocol has yielded up to 1 × 106 iMGs in 1 week, which allows for protein and RNA extraction and corresponding downstream analyses (e.g., RNASeq, qRT-PCR, western blot, mass spectrometry). That said, a limitation of this protocol i.......
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The authors thank Michael Ward for providing the WTC11 hNIL iPSC line for motor neuron differentiation and the Jackson Laboratories for supplying the KOLF2.1J WT clone B03 iPSC line used for microglia differentiation. We also thank Dorothy Schafer for her support during the implementation of the protocols, Anthony Giampetruzzi and John Landers for their help with the live-cell imaging system as well as Hayden Gadd for his technical contributions during revisions and Jonathan Jung for his collaboration in this study. This work was supported by the Dan and Diane Riccio Fund for Neuroscience from UMASS Chan Medical School and the Angel Fund, Inc.
....Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Antibodies for immunofluorescence analysis | |||
anti-IBA1 rabbit antibody | Wako Chemical USA | NC9288364 | 1:350 dilution |
anti-P2RY12 rabbit antibody | Sigma-Aldrich | HPA014518 | 1:50 dilution |
anti-TMEM119 rabbit antibody | Sigma-Aldrich | HPA051870 | 1:100 dilution |
Antibodies for Western blot analysis | |||
anti-β-Tubulin rabbit antibody | Abcam | ab6046 | 1:500 dilution |
anti-Synaptophysin (SYP) rabbit antibody | Abclonal | A6344 | 1:1,000 dilution |
anti-PSD95 mouse antibody | Millipore | MAB1596 | 1:500 dilution |
Borate buffer components | |||
Boric acid (100 mM) | Sigma | B6768 | |
Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) BioXtra | Sigma-Aldrich | S6297-250G | |
Sodium chloride (75 mM) | Sigma | S7653 | |
Sodium tetraborate (25 mM) | Sigma | 221732 | |
Cell culture materials | |||
6-well plates | Greiner Bio-One | 657160 | |
40 μm Cell Strainers | Falcon | 352340 | |
100 mm x 20 mm Tissue Culture Treated | CELLTREAT | 229620 | |
Cell Lifter, Double End, Flat Blade & Narrow Blade, Sterile | CELLTREAT | 229305 | |
low adherence round-bottom 96-well plate | Corning | 7007 | |
Primaria 24-well Flat Bottom Surface Modified Multiwell Cell Culture Plate | Corning | 353847, | |
Primaria 6-well Cell Clear Flat Bottom Surface-Modified Multiwell Culture Plate | Corning | 353846 | |
Primaria 96-well Clear Flat Bottom Microplate | Corning | 353872 | |
Cell dissociation reagents | |||
Accutase | Corning | 25058CI | dissociation reagents used for lower motor neuron differentiation |
TrypLE reagent | Life Technologies | 12-605-010 | dissociation reagents used for microglia differentiation |
UltraPure 0.5 M EDTA, pH 8.0 | Invitrogen | 15575020 | |
Coating reagents for cell culture | |||
Matrigel GFR Membrane Matrix | Corning™ | 354230 | Referred as to extracellular matrix coating reagent |
CellAdhere Laminin-521 | STEMCELL Technology | 77004 | Referred as to laminin 521 |
Poly-D-Lysine | Sigma | P7405 | Reconstitute to 0.1 mg/mL in borate buffer |
Poly-L-Ornithine | Sigma | P3655 | Reconstitute to 1 mg/mL in borate buffer |
Components of iPSC media | |||
mTeSR Plus Kit | STEMCELL Technology | 100-0276 | To prepare iPSC media mixed the components to 1x |
Components of EB media | |||
BMP-4 | Fisher Scientific | PHC9534 | final concentration 50 ng/mL |
iPSC media | final concentration 1x | ||
ROCK inhibitor Y27632 | Fisher Scientific | BD 562822 | final concentration 10 µM |
SCF | PeproTech | 300-07 | final concentration 20 ng/mL |
VEGF | PeproTech | 100-20A | final concentration 50 ng/mL |
Components of PMP base media | |||
GlutaMAX | Gibco | 35050061 | final concentration 1x |
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL) | Gibco | 15140122 | final concentration 100 U/mL |
X-VIVO 15 | Lonza | 12001-988 | final concentration 1x |
Components of PMP complete media | |||
55 mM 2-mercaptoethanol | Gibco | 21985023 | final concentration 55 µM |
IL-3 | PeproTech | 200-03 | final concentration 25 ng/mL |
M-CSF | PeproTech | 300-25 | final concentration 100 ng/mL |
PMP base media | final concentration 1x | ||
Components of iMG base media | |||
Advanced DMEM/F12 | Gibco | 12634010 | final concentration 1x |
GlutaMAX | Gibco | 35050061 | final concentration 1x |
N2 supplement, 100x | Gibco | 17502-048 | final concentration 1x |
Penicillin-Streptomycin (10,000 U/mL) | Gibco | 15140122 | final concentration 100 U/mL |
Components of iMG complete media | |||
55 mM 2-mercaptoethanol | Gibco | 21985023 | final concentration 55 µM |
IL-34 | PeproTech or Biologend | 200-34 or 577904 | final concentration 100 ng/mL |
iMG base media | final concentration 1x | ||
M-CSF | PeproTech | 300-25 | final concentration 5 ng/mL |
TGF-β | PeproTech | 100-21 | final concentration 50 ng/mL |
Components of Induction base media | |||
DMEM/F12 with HEPES | Gibco | 11330032 | final concentration 1x |
GlutaMAX | Gibco | 35050061 | final concentration 1x |
N2 supplement, 100x | Gibco | 17502-048 | final concentration 1x |
Non-essential amino acids (NEAA), 100x | Gibco | 11140050 | final concentration 1x |
Components of Complete induction media | |||
Compound E | Calbiochem | 565790 | final concentration 0.2 μM and reconstitute stock reagent to 2 mM in 1:1 ethanol and DMSO |
Doxycycline | Sigma | D9891 | final concentration 2 μg/mL and reconstitute stock reagent to 2 mg/mL in DPBS |
Induction base media | final concentration 1x | ||
ROCK inhibitor Y27632 | Fisher Scientific | BD 562822 | final concentration 10 μM |
Components of Neuron media | |||
B-27 Plus Neuronal Culture System | Gibco | A3653401 | final concentration 1x for media and suplemment |
GlutaMAX | Gibco | 35050061 | final concentration 1x |
N2 supplement, 100x | Gibco | 17502-048 | final concentration 1x |
Non-essential amino acids (NEAA), 100x | Gibco | 11140050 | final concentration 1x |
iPSC lines used in this study | |||
KOLF2.1J: WT clone B03 | The Jackson Laboratories | ||
WTC11 hNIL | National Institute of Health | ||
Synaptosome isolation reagents | |||
BCA Protein Assay Kit | Thermo Scientific Pierce | 23227 | |
dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) | Sigma | D2650 | |
Syn-PER Synaptic Protein Extraction Reagent | Thermo Scientific | 87793 | Referred as to cell lysis reagent for isolation of synaptosomes |
Phagocytosis assay dyes | |||
NucBlue Live Ready reagent | Invitrogen | R37605 | |
pHrodo Red, succinimidyl ester | ThermoFisher Scientific | P36600 | Referred as to pH-sensitive dye |
Other cell-culture reagents | |||
Trypan Blue, 0.4% Solution | AMRESCO INC | K940-100ML | |
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) | Sigma | 22144-77-0 | |
BrdU | Sigma | B9285 | Reconstitute to 40 mM in sterile water |
Cytochalasin D | Sigma | final concentration 10 µM | |
DPBS with Calcium and magnesium | Corning | 21-030-CV | |
DPBS without calcium and magnesium | Corning | 21-031-CV | Referred as to DPBS |
KnockOut DMEM/F-12 | Gibco | 12660012 | Referred as to DMEM-F12 optimized for growth of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells |
Laminin Mouse Protein, Natural | Gibco | 23017015 | Referred as to laminin |
Software and Equipment | |||
Centrifuge | Eppendorf | Model 5810R | |
Cytation 5 live cell imaging reader | Biotek | ||
Gen5 Microplate Reader and Imager Software | Biotek | version 3.03 | |
Multi-Therm Heat-Shake | Benchmark | refer as tube shaker | |
Water sonicator | Elma | Mode Transsonic 310 |
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