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Specification of neuronal and glial subtypes from human pluripotent stem cells

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Abstract

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), provide a dynamic tool for revealing early embryonic development, modeling pathological processes, and developing therapeutics through drug discovery and potential cell replacement. The first step toward the utilities of human PSCs is directed differentiation to functionally specialized cell/tissue types. Following developmental principles, human ESCs, and lately iPSCs, have been effectively differentiated to region- and/or transmitter-specific neuronal and glial types, including cerebral glutamatergic, striatal γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic, forebrain cholinergic, midbrain dopaminergic, and spinal motor neurons, as well as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. These studies also reveal unique aspects of human cell biology, including intrinsically programmed developmental course, differential uses of transcription factors for neuroectoderm specification, and distinct responses to extracellular signals in regulating cell fate. Such information will be instrumental in translating biological findings to therapeutic development.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank members of the Zhang laboratory for reading and commenting on the manuscript. Studies presented from our laboratory have been supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS045926, NS057778, NS064578), ALS Association, National MS Society (NMSS TR-3761), NYSTEM (C024406), Bleser Family Foundation, Busta Family Foundation, Neuroscience Training Program (T32 GM007507) and partly by a core grant to the Waisman Center from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30 HD03352).

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  1. Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Huisheng Liu & Su-Chun Zhang

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Department of Neurology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Su-Chun Zhang

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  1. Huisheng Liu
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  2. Su-Chun Zhang
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Correspondence to Su-Chun Zhang.

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Liu, H., Zhang, SC. Specification of neuronal and glial subtypes from human pluripotent stem cells. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 68, 3995–4008 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-011-0770-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-011-0770-y

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