Recent advances and novel approaches in deriving neurons from stem cells

New approaches to improve the quality and efficiency of stem cell-derived neurons are important for both research and clinical arenas. Customized subsets of differentiated neurons can be used as model systems to understand the etiology of a variety of complex neurological diseases and disorders. These same neuronal cells, or progenitors thereof, can then be tested in animal models to determine therapeutic value. Just as exciting is the potential to take somatic cells, i.e. skin cells, from patients with debilitating neurodegenerative diseases and reprogram them into stem cells for neuronal differentiation. These neurons can then be researched to learn more about underlying pathological events or used as a model to test novel therapeutics. To facilitate this potential utilization, investigators in multiple disciplines have taken their unique specialties and applied them towards generating novel induction techniques to produce functional neurons from stem cells. In this review, we highlight recent literature demonstrating cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approaches, which induce neuronal differentiation into a variety of phenotypes and discuss the potential impact of these works.