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Lookup NU author(s): Alla Narytnyk, Dr Burns Verdon, Andrew Loughney, Dr Michele Sweeney, Dr Oliver Clewes, Professor Michael TaggartORCiD, Professor Maya Sieber-Blum
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Here we provide a protocol for the directed differentiation of hEPI-NCSC into midbrain dopaminergic neurons, which degenerate in Parkinson's disease. hEPI-NCSC are neural crest-derived multipotent stem cells that persist into adulthood in the bulge of hair follicles. The experimental design is distinctly different from conventional protocols for embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. It includes pre-differentiation of the multipotent hEPI-NCSC into neural stem cell-like cells, followed by ventralizing, patterning, continued exposure to the TGFβ receptor inhibitor, SB431542, and at later stages of differentiation the presence of the WNT inhibitor, IWP-4. All cells expressed A9 midbrain dopaminergic neuron progenitor markers with gene expression levels comparable to those in normal human substantia nigra. The current study shows for the first time that virtually homogeneous populations of dopaminergic neurons can be derived ex vivo from somatic stem cells without the need for purification, with useful timeliness and high efficacy. This novel development is an important first step towards the establishment of fully functional dopaminergic neurons from an ontologically relevant stem cell type, hEPI-NCSC.
Author(s): Narytnyk A, Verdon B, Loughney A, Sweeney M, Clewes O, Taggart MJ, Sieber-Blum M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Stem Cells Reviews and Reports
Year: 2014
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Pages: 316-326
Print publication date: 01/04/2014
Date deposited: 06/07/2015
ISSN (print): 1550-8943
ISSN (electronic): 1558-6804
Publisher: Springer US
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12015-013-9493-9
DOI: 10.1007/s12015-013-9493-9
PubMed id: 24399192
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