Biology subjects

Skibo, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Skibo, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Rapid and efficient generation of human oligodendrocytes myelinating adult human cortical neurons

Intracerebral transplantation of stem cell-derived oligodendrocytes (OLs) is a promising strategy for repairing demyelinated human brain tissue, the main hallmark of white-matter disorders. However, several challenges hinder clinical translation, including slow or inefficient production of human OLs with current protocols, and difficulty in generating pure OL grafts capable of remyelinating injured neural circuits. Here, we present a robust, highly reproducible method for the rapid and efficient production of human OLs from human induced pluripotent stem cell derived long-term neuroepithelial-like stem (lt-NES) cells. Induced expression of the lineage-defining transcription factors SOX10 and OLIG2 in lt-NES cells is sufficient to generate a population of 80% OLs within 7 days. Importantly, these cells survive, differentiate and form functional OL-exclusive grafts when transplanted into adult human brain slices ex vivo, constituting the first demonstration that an OL-exclusive graft with robust myelination capacity can be generated in a clinically relevant allogeneic environment. This advance marks a significant step towards the clinical application of oligodendrocyte replacement therapy for human demyelinating disorders.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Human cortical neurons rapidly generated by direct ES cell programming integrate into stroke-injured rat cortex

Stroke is a major cause of long-term disability in adult humans, the neuronal loss leading to motor, sensory, and cognitive impairments. Replacement of dead neurons by intracerebral transplantation of stem cell-derived neurons for reconstruction of injured neuronal networks has potential to become a novel therapeutic strategy to promote functional recovery after stroke. Here we describe a rapid and efficient protocol for the generation of cortical neurons via direct programming of human embryonic stem (hES) cells. Our results show that 7 days overexpression of the transcription factor neurogenin 2 (NGN2) in vitro was enough to generate hES-induced cells with cortical phenotype, as revealed by immunocytochemistry and RT-qPCR, and electrophysiological properties of neurons in an intermediate stage of maturity. At 3 months after translantation into the stroke-injured rat cortex, the hES-induced neurons (hES-iNs) showed immunocytochemical markers of mature layer-specific cortical neurons and sent widespread axonal projections to several areas in both hemispheres of the host brain. Their axons became myelinated and formed synaptic contacts with host neurons, as shown by immunoelectron microscopy. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that direct transcription factor programming of hES cells can efficiently and rapidly produce cortical neurons with capacity to integrate into the stroke-injured brain.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Oligodendrocytes in human iPS cell-derived cortical grafts remyelinate adult rat and human cortical neurons

Neuronal loss and axonal demyelination underlie long-term functional impairments in patients affected by brain disorders such as ischemic stroke. Stem cell-based approaches reconstructing and remyelinating brain neural circuitry, leading to recovery, are highly warranted. Here we demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo production of myelinating oligodendrocytes from a human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived long-term neuroepithelial stem (lt-NES) cell line, which also gives rise to neurons with the capacity to integrate into stroke-injured, adult rat cortical networks. Most importantly, the generated oligodendrocytes survive and form myelin ensheathing human axons in the host tissue after grafting onto adult human cortical organotypic cultures. This lt-NES cell line is the first human stem cell source that after intracerebral delivery can repair both injured neural circuitries and demyelinated axons. Our findings provide supportive evidence for the potential future use of human iPS cell-derived cell lines to promote effective clinical recovery following brain injuries.

neuroscience↗