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Rapid single-step induction of functional neurons from human pluripotent stem cells

Zhang, Yingsha ; Pak, Chang Hui ; Han, Yan ; Ahlenius, Henrik LU ; Zhang, Zhenjie ; Chanda, Soham ; Marro, Samuele ; Patzke, Christopher ; Acuna, Claudio and Covy, Jason , et al. (2013) In Neuron 78(5). p.785-798
Abstract

Available methods for differentiating human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) into neurons are often cumbersome, slow, and variable. Alternatively, human fibroblasts can be directly converted into induced neuronal (iN) cells. However, with present techniques conversion is inefficient, synapse formation is limited, and only small amounts of neurons can be generated. Here, we show that human ESCs and iPSCs can be converted into functional iN cells with nearly 100% yield and purity in less than 2weeks by forced expression of a single transcription factor. The resulting ES-iN or iPS-iN cells exhibit quantitatively reproducible properties independent of the cell line of origin, form mature pre- and... (More)

Available methods for differentiating human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) into neurons are often cumbersome, slow, and variable. Alternatively, human fibroblasts can be directly converted into induced neuronal (iN) cells. However, with present techniques conversion is inefficient, synapse formation is limited, and only small amounts of neurons can be generated. Here, we show that human ESCs and iPSCs can be converted into functional iN cells with nearly 100% yield and purity in less than 2weeks by forced expression of a single transcription factor. The resulting ES-iN or iPS-iN cells exhibit quantitatively reproducible properties independent of the cell line of origin, form mature pre- and postsynaptic specializations, and integrate into existing synaptic networks when transplanted into mouse brain. As illustrated by selected examples, our approach enables large-scale studies of human neurons for questions such as analyses of human diseases, examination of human-specific genes, and drug screening

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Neuron
volume
78
issue
5
pages
785 - 798
publisher
Cell Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84878849645
  • pmid:23764284
ISSN
0896-6273
DOI
10.1016/j.neuron.2013.05.029
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
d27f6afa-975d-42db-a141-30f059e3d41b
date added to LUP
2025-08-26 11:21:10
date last changed
2025-09-09 12:21:48
@article{d27f6afa-975d-42db-a141-30f059e3d41b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Available methods for differentiating human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) into neurons are often cumbersome, slow, and variable. Alternatively, human fibroblasts can be directly converted into induced neuronal (iN) cells. However, with present techniques conversion is inefficient, synapse formation is limited, and only small amounts of neurons can be generated. Here, we show that human ESCs and iPSCs can be converted into functional iN cells with nearly 100% yield and purity in less than 2weeks by forced expression of a single transcription factor. The resulting ES-iN or iPS-iN cells exhibit quantitatively reproducible properties independent of the cell line of origin, form mature pre- and postsynaptic specializations, and integrate into existing synaptic networks when transplanted into mouse brain. As illustrated by selected examples, our approach enables large-scale studies of human neurons for questions such as analyses of human diseases, examination of human-specific genes, and drug screening</p>}},
  author       = {{Zhang, Yingsha and Pak, Chang Hui and Han, Yan and Ahlenius, Henrik and Zhang, Zhenjie and Chanda, Soham and Marro, Samuele and Patzke, Christopher and Acuna, Claudio and Covy, Jason and Xu, Wei and Yang, Nan and Danko, Tamas and Chen, Lu and Wernig, Marius and Südhof, Thomas C.}},
  issn         = {{0896-6273}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{785--798}},
  publisher    = {{Cell Press}},
  series       = {{Neuron}},
  title        = {{Rapid single-step induction of functional neurons from human pluripotent stem cells}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.05.029}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.neuron.2013.05.029}},
  volume       = {{78}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}