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hiPSC-derived Astrocyte Culture and Isolation Service

Astrocytes are a major type of glial cell in the central nervous system (CNS). They play vital roles in providing structural and metabolic support to neurons, regulating neurotransmission, modulating synaptic connectivity, and maintaining the blood-brain barrier. Astrocyte dysfunction has been implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases and neurological disorders.

Astrocytes can be derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) through specific differentiation protocols. hiPSCs are stem cells reprogrammed from somatic cells like skin or blood cells back into a pluripotent state. The hiPSCs can then be directed to become astrocyte progenitor cells that mature into functional astrocyte-like cells.

Fig. 1 Human iPSC-derived mature astrocytes. (Sonninen, 2020)

Advantages Applications Assays Related Diseases

Key Advantages of hiPSC-derived Astrocytes

  • Renewable sources avoiding the use of primary fetal/animal astrocytes
    hiPSCs provide an ethically uncontroversial, renewable source of human astrocytes for research.
  • Obtain homogeneous populations of astrocytes
    Differentiation from clonal hiPSC lines can produce pure cultures of defined astrocytes.
  • Generate patient-specific astrocytes to model diseases
    Patient-derived hiPSC lines enable generating astrocytes with disease-relevant genetic backgrounds.
  • Study astrocyte biology, function, and neurodevelopmental roles
    hiPSC-astrocytes allow interrogating astrocyte properties and influences on neurogenesis and synaptogenesis.
  • Screen compounds modulating astrocyte activation/reactivity
    Enables high-throughput drug screening for new therapeutics modulating harmful astrocyte activation states.

Applications of hiPSC-derived Astrocytes in Research

  • Investigating astrocyte-neuron interactions and signaling
    Co-culture systems with hiPSC-neurons allow for studying how astrocytes influence neuronal function, survival, and connectivity.
  • Evaluating therapeutic approaches targeting astrocyte dysfunction
    Screen compounds that modulate harmful astrocyte reactivity states implicated in neurodegeneration.
  • Studying roles of astrocytes in neurodevelopment and synaptic regulation
    Examine how astrocyte-secreted factors and astrocyte-neuron signaling impact neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and pruning.
  • Modeling astrocyte involvement in neurodegenerative diseases
    hiPSC-derived astrocytes from patients can be used to model astrocyte contributions to diseases like Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Common Assays Utilize hiPSC-derived Astrocytes

  • Neurodevelopmental assays (Neurite outgrowth, synaptogenesis)
    Evaluating astrocyte influences on neuronal maturation and synaptic connectivity.
  • Gene expression analysis and astrocyte signature profiling
    Transcriptomic studies to characterize astrocyte activation states and responses.
  • Co-cultures with hiPSC-derived neurons and other neural cell types
    Modeling complex neuron-astrocyte interactions and signaling pathways.
  • Functional assays (Glutamate uptake, GABA transport, calcium signaling)
    Assessing key astrocyte functions like neurotransmitter recycling and calcium wave propagation.
  • Inflammatory response and reactivity assays
    Measuring pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and astrocyte activation markers.
  • Construct 3D BBB model
    Co-culturing with human endothelial cells and pericytes for drug screening.

Astrocyte Dysfunction is Implicated in

  • Neurodegenerative diseases (AD, PD, ALS, HD)
    Reactive astrocytes contribute to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration via cytokine release and excitotoxicity.
  • Stroke and brain injury
    Astrocytes undergo harmful reactive responses after ischemic injury and trauma.
  • Brain cancer (Glioblastoma)
    Patient-derived astrocytes can provide models for studying tumor pathogenesis.
  • Neurodevelopmental disorders (Autism, schizophrenia)
    Astrocyte dysfunction may disrupt the regulation of synaptic development and pruning.

Reference

  1. Sonninen, Tuuli-Maria et al. "Metabolic alterations in Parkinson's disease astrocytes." Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):14474. Distributed under Open Access license CC BY 4.0. The original image was modified.
For Research Use Only. Not For Clinical Use.
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