title: Impact of preconditioning with retinoic acid during early development on morphological and functional characteristics of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons.
abstract: Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are a suitable tool to study basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurodevelopment. The directed differentiation of hiPSCs via the generation of a self-renewable neuronal precursor cell line allows the standardization of defined differentiation protocols. Here, we have investigated whether preconditioning with retinoic acid during early neural induction impacts on morphological and functional characteristics of the neuronal culture after terminal differentiation. For this purpose we have analyzed neuronal and glial cell markers, neuronal outgrowth, soma size, depolarization-induced distal shifts of the axon initial segment as well as glutamate-evoked calcium influx. Retinoic acid preconditioning led to a higher yield of neurons vs. glia cells and longer axons than unconditioned controls. In contrast, glutamatergic activation and depolarization induced structural plasticity were unchanged. Our results show that the treatment of neuroectodermal cells with retinoic acid during early development, i.e. during the neurulation phase, increases the yield of neuronal phenotypes, but does not impact on the functionality of terminally differentiated neuronal cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horschitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matthäus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Groß
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany; Department of Neurophysiology, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galach
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Greffrath
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Rolf-Detlef
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Treede
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Unit, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center Mannheim, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utikal
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany. Electronic address: patrick.schloss@zi-mannheim.de.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schloss
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg/Medical Faculty Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meyer-Lindenberg
mesh_terms: D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D057026:Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018698:Glutamic Acid; D014212:Tretinoin; D002118:Calcium