A Novel Protocol to Differentiate Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Neuronal microRNAs to Provide a Suitable Cellular Model. (29th January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zare, Mehrak; Soleimani, Masoud; Akbarzadeh, Abolfazl; Bakhshandeh, Behnaz; Aghaee‐Bakhtiari, Seyed Hamid; Zarghami, Nosratollah
• Is Part Of: Chemical biology & drug design. Volume 86:Number 2(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 232
• Page End: 238
• Publication Date: 2015-01-29
• Subjects: Drugs -- Design -- Periodicals; Pharmaceutical chemistry -- Periodicals; Biochemistry -- Periodicals; 615.19005
• DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12485
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1747-0277

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="cbdd12485-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Neurodegenerative diseases are one of the most challenging subjects in medicine. Investigation of their underlying genetic or epigenetic factors is hampered by lack of suitable models. Patient‐specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) represent a valuable approach to provide a proper model for poorly understood mechanisms of neuronal diseases and the related drug screenings. miR‐124 and miR‐128 are the two brain‐enriched miRNAs with different time‐points of expression during neuronal development. Herein, we transduced human iPS cells with miR‐124 and miR‐128 harboring lentiviruses sequentially. The transduced plasmids contained GFP and puromycin antibiotic‐resistant genes for easier selection and identification. Morphological assessment and immunocytochemistry (overexpressions of beta‐tubulin and neuron‐specific enolase) confirmed that induced hiPS cells by miR‐124 and miR‐128 represent similar characteristics to those of mature neurons. In addition, the upregulation of neuron‐specific enolase, beta‐tubulin, Map2, GFAP, and BDNF was detected by quantitative real‐time PCR. In conclusion, it seems that our novel protocol remarks the combinatorial effect of miR‐124 and miR‐128 on neural differentiation in the absence of any extrinsic factor. Moreover, such cellular models could be used in personalized drug screening and applied for more effective therapies.</p> </abstract>