A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies
What roles do astrocytes play in human disease? This question remains unanswered for nearly every human neurological disorder. Yet, because of their abundance and complexity astrocytes can impact neurological function in many ways. The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into neu...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2013-03-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncel.2013.00025/full |
| _version_ | 1811199935383601152 |
|---|---|
| author | Robert eKrencik Erik M. Ullian |
| author_facet | Robert eKrencik Erik M. Ullian |
| author_sort | Robert eKrencik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | What roles do astrocytes play in human disease? This question remains unanswered for nearly every human neurological disorder. Yet, because of their abundance and complexity astrocytes can impact neurological function in many ways. The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into neuronal and glial subtypes, including astrocytes, is becoming routine, thus their use as tools for modeling neurodevelopment and disease will provide one important approach to answer this question. When designing experiments, careful consideration must be given to choosing paradigms for differentiation, maturation, and functional analysis of these temporally asynchronous cellular populations in culture. In the case of astrocytes, they display heterogeneous characteristics depending upon species of origin, brain region, developmental stage, environmental factors, and disease states, all of which may render experimental results highly variable. In this review, challenges and future directions are discussed for using hPSC-derived astroglial progenitors and mature astrocytes for neurodevelopmental studies with a focus on exploring human astrocyte effects upon neuronal function. As new technologies emerge to measure the functions of astrocytes in vitro and in vivo, there is also a need for a standardized source of human astrocytes that are most relevant to the diseases of interest. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:56:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5d238f8fba04d948dea0b30364fefee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:56:20Z |
| publishDate | 2013-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5d238f8fba04d948dea0b30364fefee2022-12-22T03:52:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience1662-51022013-03-01710.3389/fncel.2013.0002546181A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease StudiesRobert eKrencik0Erik M. Ullian1University of California-San FranciscoUniversity of California-San FranciscoWhat roles do astrocytes play in human disease? This question remains unanswered for nearly every human neurological disorder. Yet, because of their abundance and complexity astrocytes can impact neurological function in many ways. The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into neuronal and glial subtypes, including astrocytes, is becoming routine, thus their use as tools for modeling neurodevelopment and disease will provide one important approach to answer this question. When designing experiments, careful consideration must be given to choosing paradigms for differentiation, maturation, and functional analysis of these temporally asynchronous cellular populations in culture. In the case of astrocytes, they display heterogeneous characteristics depending upon species of origin, brain region, developmental stage, environmental factors, and disease states, all of which may render experimental results highly variable. In this review, challenges and future directions are discussed for using hPSC-derived astroglial progenitors and mature astrocytes for neurodevelopmental studies with a focus on exploring human astrocyte effects upon neuronal function. As new technologies emerge to measure the functions of astrocytes in vitro and in vivo, there is also a need for a standardized source of human astrocytes that are most relevant to the diseases of interest.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncel.2013.00025/fullAstrocytesGlial Fibrillary Acidic ProteinRegenerative Medicineneurological disordersdisease modelsDevelopmental disorders of the brain |
| spellingShingle | Robert eKrencik Erik M. Ullian A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience Astrocytes Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Regenerative Medicine neurological disorders disease models Developmental disorders of the brain |
| title | A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies |
| title_full | A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies |
| title_fullStr | A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies |
| title_short | A Cellular Star Atlas: Using Astrocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for Disease Studies |
| title_sort | cellular star atlas using astrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells for disease studies |
| topic | Astrocytes Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Regenerative Medicine neurological disorders disease models Developmental disorders of the brain |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncel.2013.00025/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertekrencik acellularstaratlasusingastrocytesfromhumanpluripotentstemcellsfordiseasestudies AT erikmullian acellularstaratlasusingastrocytesfromhumanpluripotentstemcellsfordiseasestudies AT robertekrencik cellularstaratlasusingastrocytesfromhumanpluripotentstemcellsfordiseasestudies AT erikmullian cellularstaratlasusingastrocytesfromhumanpluripotentstemcellsfordiseasestudies |