Biology subjects

Ullian, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Ullian, E..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Defined human tri-lineage brain microtissues

Microglia are the immune cells of the central nervous system and are thought to be key players in both physiological and disease conditions. Several microglial features are poorly conserved between mice and human, such as the function of the neurodegeneration-associated immune receptor Trem2. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived microglia offer a powerful opportunity to generate and study human microglia. However, human iPSC-derived microglia often exhibit activated phenotypes in vitro, and assessing their impact on other brain cell types remains challenging due to limitations in current co-culture systems. Here, we developed fully defined brain microtissues, composed of human iPSC-derived neurons, astrocytes, and microglia, co-cultured in 2D or 3D formats. Our microtissues are stable and self-sufficient over time, requiring no exogenous cytokines or growth factors. All three cell types exhibit morphologies characteristic of their in vivo environment and show functional properties. Co-cultured microglia develop more homeostatic phenotypes compared to microglia exposed to exogenous cytokines. Hence, these tri-cultures provide a unique approach to investigate cell-cell interactions between brain cell types. We found that astrocytes and not neurons are sufficient for microglial survival and maturation, and that astrocyte-derived M-CSF is essential for microglial survival. Single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing analyses nominated a network of reciprocal communication between cell types. Brain microtissues faithfully recapitulated pathogenic -synuclein seeding and aggregation, suggesting their usefulness as human cell models to study not only normal but also pathological cell biological processes.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Network-aware self-supervised learning enables high-content phenotypic screening for genetic modifiers of neuronal activity dynamics

High-throughput phenotypic screening has historically relied on manually selected features, limiting our ability to capture complex cellular processes, particularly neuronal activity dynamics. While recent advances in self-supervised learning have revolutionized the ability to study cellular morphology and transcriptomics, dynamic cellular processes have remained challenging to phenotypically profile. To address this limitation, we developed Plexus, a self-supervised model specifically designed to capture and quantify network-level neuronal activity dynamics. Unlike existing phenotyping tools that focus on static readouts, Plexus leverages a network-level cell encoding method, which enables it to efficiently encode dynamic neuronal activity data into rich representational embeddings. In turn, Plexus achieves state of the art performance in detecting phenotypic changes in neuronal activity. We validated Plexus using a comprehensive GCaMP6m simulation framework and demonstrated its enhanced ability to classify distinct neuronal activity phenotypes compared to traditional signal-processing approaches. To enable practical application, we integrated Plexus with a scalable experimental system utilizing human iPSC-derived neurons equipped with the GCaMP6m calcium indicator and CRISPR interference machinery. This integrated platform successfully identified nearly seventeen times as many distinct phenotypic changes in response to genetic perturbations compared to conventional signal processing methods, as demonstrated in a 52-gene CRISPRi screen across multiple iPSC lines. Using this framework, we identified potential genetic modifiers of aberrant neuronal activity in frontotemporal dementia, illustrating its utility for understanding complex neurological disorders.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2025

Nemo-like kinase disrupts nuclear import and drives TDP43 mislocalization in ALS

Cytoplasmic TDP43 mislocalization and aggregation are pathological hallmarks of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the initial cellular insults that lead to TDP43 mislocalization remain unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that Nemo-like kinase (NLK)--a proline-directed serine/threonine kinase--promotes the mislocalization of TDP43 and other RNA-binding proteins by disrupting nuclear import. NLK levels are selectively elevated in neurons exhibiting TDP43 mislocalization in ALS patient tissues, while genetic reduction of NLK reduces toxicity in human neuron models of ALS. Our findings suggest that NLK is a promising therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

C12ORF57: a novel principal regulator of synaptic AMPA currents and excitatory neuronal homeostasis

ObjectiveExcitatory neuronal homeostasis is crucial for neuronal survival, circuit function, and plasticity. Disruptions in this form of homeostasis are believed to underpin a variety of neuronal conditions including intellectual disability, epilepsy, and autism. However, the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms maintaining this homeostasis remain poorly understood. Biallelic recurrent loss of function mutations in C12ORF57, an evolutionarily conserved X amino acid novel open reading frame, underlie Temtamy syndrome (TS)--a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by epilepsy, dysgenesis of the corpus callosum, and severe intellectual disability. MethodsThrough multiple lines of inquiry, we establish that C12ORF57/GRCC10 plays an unexpected central role in synaptic homeostatic downscaling in response to elevated activity, uncovering a novel mechanism for neuronal excitatory homeostasis. To probe these mechanisms, we developed a new knockout (KO) mouse model of the genes murine ortholog, Grcc10 as well as cellular and in vitro assays. ResultsGrcc10 KO mice exhibit the characteristic phenotypic features seen in human TS patients, including increased epileptiform activity. Corresponding with the enhanced seizure susceptibility, hippocampal neurons in these mice exhibited significantly increased AMPA receptor expression levels and higher amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs). We further found that GRCC10/C12ORF57 modulates the activity of calcium/calmodulin dependent kinase 4 (CAMK4) and thereby regulates the expression of CREB and ARC. InterpretationOur study suggests through this novel mechanism, deletion of Grcc10 disrupts the characteristic synaptic AMPA receptor downscaling that accompanies increased activity in glutamatergic neurons.

neuroscience↗