Lesson 19

Question 1

how can we test of cells are pluripotent?

Answer 1

differentiate the cells in vitro and see if you derive any adult cell type or to transplant the iPCS cells subcutaneously under the skin of an immunodeficient mouse that cannot reject the cells

Question 2

what is the first thing to do when reprogramming fibroblasts?

Answer 2

assess if they express pluripotent markers

Question 3

what is a crucial hallmark to verify human iPCS generation?

Answer 3

the formation of teratomas

Question 4

what is the method of choice to generate iPSCs?

Answer 4

Sendai Virus Vector (SeV) → virus of a single strand of RNA

Question 5

how does SeV work?

Answer 5

it expresses the 4 Yamanaka factors th RNA which enter to the cells will just produce the 4 transcription factors to initiate the reprogramming process

Question 6

why is SeV better than other previous methods?

Answer 6

does not leave any trace into the genome of the cells and since the level of viral RNA in high the level of expression of the factor is high and the process of reprogramming is very efficient → traceless efficient and technically very simple method

Question 7

what is an advantage of generating human iPS cells?

Answer 7

they can be differentiated into a specific cell type for a specific diseases in order to create an “in vitro human model” for study

Question 8

what did the Sendai kit make possible in the field of research?

Answer 8

it is possible to generate iPSC from peripheral blood mononuclear cells → easy method to have patient specific iPSC that we can use to differentiate into the cells of interest

Question 9

it is possible to correct genetic mutations in the iPSCs with gene editing, generating what?

Answer 9

isogenic control iPSCs

Question 10

how are isogenic control iPCs used?

Answer 10

the “corrected” isogenic control cells can be compared to the persons cells in order to test different therapies

Question 11

what type of neurons die in Parkinsons disease?

Answer 11

dopaminergic neurons

Question 12

how were isogenic controls used to study Parkinsons?

Answer 12

they created a panel of iPSCs lines all isogenic between each other which were different only for the number of copies of a-synuclein → these iPSCs were then differentiated into neural progenitors and then mature neurons, using a specific protocol which allows to direct the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into neuronal stem cells

Question 13

what mutation can cause Parkinsons?

Answer 13

a mutation in OPA1

Question 14

how did scientist recreate in vitro neuronal circuits, in particular the dopaminergic striata connection?

Answer 14

a microfluidic chip - has very small chambers where you can grow different populations of neurons

Question 15

what can we see with microfluidic chips?

Answer 15

we can see single axons in the microchannel and study the synapses in this other channel

Question 16

how were micofluidic chips used to study Parkinson’s?

Answer 16

The aim was to analyse the axons of the DA neurons with the mutation in OPA-1

Question 17

what did they discover with the microfluidic chips?

Answer 17

if these are mitochondria among the axons of the control neurons and these are the mitochondria along the axons of OPA-1 mutant → indicate that there is a strong impairment of fragmented mitochondria to travel along the axons and to reach the synapses

Question 18

if synapses lose mitochondria, what occurs?

Answer 18

they degenerate

Question 19

why can you not transplant an individuals specific iPSCs derived from neurons back into the substantia ganglia?

Answer 19

this connection is built during embryogenesis → when the brain is mature there are a lot of lipids which block the growth of axons so you cannot re-create an axon bundle

Question 20

what idea was tested instead of transplanting neurons into the substantia ganglia?

Answer 20

you transplant the neurons directly where they have to release dopamine → in the basal ganglia

Question 21

what are organoids?

Answer 21

organs or tissues differentiated in vitro to different iPSC derived from different cell types

Question 22

describe a brain organoid:

Answer 22

is nothing like a brain, but it recapitulates some morphological features of embryonic brain structure → some people refer to them as neuron aggregates instead

Question 23

what are brain orgainoids induced to form?

Answer 23

aggregates which float freely in the calcium medium, so these aggregates can grow and then can be induced into neuronal progenitors

Question 24

what do the neural aggregates form, and what can be formed from further differentiation?

Answer 24

large bulges; if we cut these bulges in sections and let them differentiate each will start to form a laminar neuronal organization

Question 25

why do neuronal aggregates form layered structures?

Answer 25

during the generation of organoids each of this layer start to differentiate these cortical neurons in a layer organization really resemble what happens in brain development

Question 26

what is a challenge regarding neuronal aggregates?

Answer 26

the maturation timing is a challenge in order to make sure it its mature enough to form a well-organized structure

Question 27

what did the first study with brain organoids focus on?

Answer 27

microencephaly → they made organoids from healthy donors and patient with microencephaly, and they could recapitulate the defects of microcephaly in the organoids

Question 28

what is an assembloid?

Answer 28

when two organoids of different neuronal cell types are fused together, when they fuse the axons from the cerebral cortex penetrate inside the striatal organoids and form contacts within neurons → can generate axonal connections between cortical neurons and striatal neurons in a 3D structure

Question 29

what is a technique to activate neurons and record their activity?

Answer 29

optogenetics

Question 30

how does the retina and lens form?

Answer 30

From the neuronal tube there is an evagination which will the contact the external epidermis and through a double interaction this part of the neuronal tube will give rise to neuronal retina, and the overlaying epidermis will form the lens

Question 31

What happens when we get an aggregate of iPSC, and we provide the right signals in form of culture medium molecules?

Answer 31

You have an aggregate of undifferentiated cells which get committed to a retinal faith and this retinal faith which forms the neuronal retina

Question 32

what current research is being done to cure blindness?

Answer 32

The idea is to make photoreceptor transplantation to restore the visual activity into patient in which there is the genetic loss of these cells

Question 33

what germline layer is the liver generated from?

Answer 33

interior endoderm

Question 34

what is the primordio?

Answer 34

induced by the endoderm and during the embryo development, this primordio grows always connected to the endoderm which generate the gut tube where is going to be connected liver, pancreas and gut tube

Question 35

how can we generate liver organoids?

Answer 35

Using human iPSC-derived hepatoblast and combining them with mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells. if we combined these 3 cell types together in the right calcium medium and signals, these cells form an aggregate of cells