GSE172409
Bioengineered models of Parkinson's Disease using Patient-derived Dopaminergic Neurons exhibit distinct Biological Profiles in a 3D Microenvironment
Background: Three-dimensional (3D) in vitro culture systems using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) represent impactful platforms to model neurodegenerative disease biology in physiologically relevant microenvironments. Though many successful biomaterials-based 3D model systems have been established for other neurogenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's Disease, relatively few exist for Parkinson's Disease (PD) research. Methods: We employed tissue engineering approaches to construct a 3D silk scaffold-based platform for the culture of hiPSC-dopaminergic (DA) neurons derived from healthy individuals and PD patients harboring LRRK2 G2019S or GBA N370S mutations. We then compared results from protein, gene expression and metabolic analyses obtained from two-dimensional (2D) and 3D culture systems. Results: The 3D platform enabled the formation of dense dopamine neuronal network architectures and developed biological profiles both similar and distinct from 2D culture systems in healthy and PD disease lines. 3D PD cultures showed elevated levels of a-synuclein and alterations in purine metabolite profiles. Furthermore, computational network analysis of transcriptome networks nominated several novel molecular interactions occurring in neurons from patients with mutations in LRRK2 and GBA. Conclusion: The brain-like 3D system presented here is a realistic platform to interrogate molecular mechanisms underlying PD biology. The key advantages of silk-based bioengineering technology include long-term culture and the ability to incorporate multiple brain-relevant cell types to parse cell-cell interactions in development, disease, and aging. Overall design: mRNA profiles of hiPSC-dopaminergic neurons from healhty subjects and Parkinson's Disease patients, cultured in 2D and 3D formats.