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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
A Guide to Generating and Using hiPSC Derived NPCs for the Study of Neurological Diseases
Published on: February 21, 2015
Directly reprogrammed Huntington's disease neural precursor cells generate striatal neurons exhibiting aggregates and
Ruth Monk1, Kevin Lee2, Kathryn S Jones3
1Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, Centre for Brain Research, School of Medical Science, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract:
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive loss of striatal medium spiny neurons. Using a highly efficient protocol for direct reprogramming of adult human fibroblasts with chemically modified mRNA, we report the first generation of HD induced neural precursor cells (iNPs) expressing striatal lineage markers that differentiated into DARPP32+ neurons from individuals with adult-onset HD (41-57 CAG). While no transcriptional differences between normal and HD reprogrammed neurons were detected by NanoString nCounter analysis, a subpopulation of HD reprogrammed neurons contained ubiquitinated polyglutamine aggregates. Importantly, reprogrammed HD neurons exhibited impaired neuronal maturation, displaying altered neurite morphology and more depolarized resting membrane potentials. Reduced BDNF protein expression in reprogrammed HD neurons correlated with increased CAG repeat lengths and earlier symptom onset. This model represents a platform for investigating impaired neuronal maturation and screening for neuronal maturation modifiers to treat HD.
