Astrocyte Differentiation Service

Case Study 1:

Project Description:

• Differentiation of Customer Provided iPSCs to Astrocytes

Timeline:

1. iPSC Recovery & Expansion
2. Pathogen Screening
3. Astrocyte Differentiation
4. Antibody Staining (GFAP+, S100beta) (Flow Cytometry is Available if Inquired)

Turnaround time: 3-4 months

Deliverables:

• 5 million cells; 1 million/vial
• Final Report with QC Data
  • QC Data Includes:
    • Human Pathogen Screening Result for the Parental Line
    • Recovery Test
    • Mycoplasma Test
    • Antibody Staining (GFAP, S100beta)

Figure 1. Bright Field Image of iPSC-derived Astrocytes From Customer-provided iPSCs.

Figure 2: Antibody Staining of the iPSC-derived Astrocytes. The astrocytes differentiated from the customer's iPSC line were stained with the astrocyte markers GFAP and s100beta. Left Three Images: Top Image: GFAP (Green), Middle Image: DAPI (Blue), Bottom Image: GFAP (Green) & DAPI (Blue); Right Three Images: Top Image: s100beta (Red), Middle Image: DAPI (Blue), Bottom Image: s100beta (Red) & DAPI (Blue)

Case Study 2:

Project Description:

• To differentiate astrocytes from Applied StemCell’s NIST Control Line, ASE-9211

Timeline:

1. iPSC Recovery & Expansion
2. Astrocyte Differentiation
3. Antibody Staining (GFAP+, S100beta) (Flow Cytometry is Available if Inquired)

Turnaround time: 3-4 months

Figure 1. Bright Field Image of iPSC-derived Astrocytes from Applied StemCell’s (ASC's)Control Line, ASE-9211.

Figure 2: Antibody Staining of the Astrocytes differentiated from the NIST Control Line, ASE-9211. The astrocytes differentiated from the ASC's iPSC line were stained with the astrocyte markers GFAP and s100beta. Left Three Images: Top Image: GFAP (Green), Middle Image: DAPI (Blue), Bottom Image: GFAP (Green) & DAPI (Blue); Right Three Images: Top Image: s100beta (Red), Middle Image: DAPI (Blue), Bottom Image: s100beta (Red) & DAPI (Blue)

Case Study 3

Project Description:

• Astrocyte Differentiation from Control Human iPSC

Figure 1. Immunocytochemical characterization of astrocytes derived from NSCs using proprietaryprotocols and optimized media yield >90% GFAP+ cells (astrocyte marker) and <1% Tuj1+ cells (neuronal marker).

Figure 2. Cytoplasmic co-localization of astrocyte markers, GFAP (green) and S100b (red), and nucleus-staining marker, Hoechst (blue).

Benefits and advantages of iPSC differentiation to neurons and glial cells:

• iPSC-derived neurons and glial cells are genetic and physiologically relevant in vitro models to study neural development and associated disorders: congenital disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and brain tumors.
• Avoid genetic variability; generate isogenic neurons and glial cells in cell culture formats that are reproducible and scalable
• Generates a valuable model for identifying new targets for neuro-regeneration as opposed to treatments limiting to symptomatic relief or delaying disease progression.
• Allows for future adaptation of technology for regenerative medicine and cell therapy in humans for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, Lou-Gehrig disease (ALS), Huntington’s disease, and spinal cord injury among other diseases.
• Differentiation of genome engineered in iPSCs (mutation introduction or correction) to neurons, offers an isogenic source of control-disease cell lines for basic research, drug development, hard-to-model neurological disorders, and potentially for gene therapy. 

Applications:

• Co-culture with neurons for advanced, in vivo-like cell line models
• Neurotoxicity screening
• Disease modeling
• High throughput drug discovery and drug screening applications
• Drug neurotoxicity screening applications