Temporally coordinated spiking activity of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons co-cultured with astrocytes

Tasuku Kayama; Ikuro Suzuki; Aoi Odawara; Takuya Sasaki; Yuji Ikegaya

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.115

Temporally coordinated spiking activity of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons co-cultured with astrocytes

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Jan 1;495(1):1028-1033. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.115. Epub 2017 Nov 21.

Authors

Tasuku Kayama¹, Ikuro Suzuki², Aoi Odawara³, Takuya Sasaki⁴, Yuji Ikegaya⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
² Department of Electronics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku Institute of Technology, 35-1 Yagiyama Kasumicho, Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 982-8577, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Electronics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku Institute of Technology, 35-1 Yagiyama Kasumicho, Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 982-8577, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Koujimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan.
⁴ Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan; Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan; Center for Information and Neural Networks, Suita City, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.

PMID: 29170135
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.115

Abstract

In culture conditions, human induced-pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived neurons form synaptic connections with other cells and establish neuronal networks, which are expected to be an in vitro model system for drug discovery screening and toxicity testing. While early studies demonstrated effects of co-culture of hiPSC-derived neurons with astroglial cells on survival and maturation of hiPSC-derived neurons, the population spiking patterns of such hiPSC-derived neurons have not been fully characterized. In this study, we analyzed temporal spiking patterns of hiPSC-derived neurons recorded by a multi-electrode array system. We discovered that specific sets of hiPSC-derived neurons co-cultured with astrocytes showed more frequent and highly coherent non-random synchronized spike trains and more dynamic changes in overall spike patterns over time. These temporally coordinated spiking patterns are physiological signs of organized circuits of hiPSC-derived neurons and suggest benefits of co-culture of hiPSC-derived neurons with astrocytes.

Keywords: Astrocyte co-culture; Human induced-pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons; Multi-electrode array; Synchronization.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Action Potentials / physiology*
Astrocytes / cytology
Astrocytes / physiology*
Biological Clocks / physiology*
Cell Communication / physiology
Cell Differentiation
Cells, Cultured
Coculture Techniques / methods*
Computer Simulation
Humans
Models, Neurological*
Neurons / cytology
Neurons / physiology*
Pluripotent Stem Cells / cytology*
Pluripotent Stem Cells / physiology
Time Factors