Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
A new gene editing service provides researchers on campus with genetically engineered pluripotent stem cell lines derived using CRISPR-Cas9. The UW–Madison iPSC Reprogramming and Human Stem Cell Gene Editing Service is co-operated by the Waisman Center’s iPSC Core and led by investigators Anita Bhattacharyya and Su-Chun Zhang. The techniques and expertise that keep the service …
Transplantation of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neurons into chick embryos is an established preliminary assay to evaluate engraftment potential. Yet, with recent advances in deriving diverse human neuronal subtypes, optimizing and standardizing such transplantation methodology for specific subtypes at their correlated anatomical sites is still required.
Human induced-pluripotent stem cells are a promising resource for propagation of myogenic progenitors. Our group recently reported a unique protocol for the derivation of myogenic progenitors directly (without genetic modification) from human pluripotent cells using free-floating spherical culture.
Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Unaffected Neonatal Skin Cells - We have generated and characterized iPSC clones from three unaffected, neonatal individuals using non-integrating episomal reprogramming plasmids expressing OCT4, SOX2, LIN28, KLF4, and c-Myc.
Human pluripotent stem cell-derived neural organoids provide unprecedented potential to recapitulate human brain and spinal cord tissues in vitro. However, organoid morphogenesis relies upon cell-intrinsic self-assembly of biomimetic tissue structures in the absence of normal developmental constraints and morphogen signaling centers.
A decade after scientists announced the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, Waisman investigators, including Su-Chun Zhang and David Gamm, continue to use these cells to research and develop potential therapies for several disorders and conditions, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and macular degeneration.
Title: Creation of a human reporter stem cell line for detecting fragile X mental retardation (FMR1) gene reactivation in human neural cells. Legend: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and a major genetic cause of autism. FXS is caused by mutational trinucleotide expansion in the FMR1 gene leading …
Title: iPSC derived Optic Vesicles (OVs)/Neural Retinal Progenitors (NRPs) – Production, Characterization and Cryopreservation Legend: 1) Representative pictures of selected OVs derived from iPSCs grown on E8/Matrigel. iPSCs, cultured on E8/Matrigel, mTeSR1/Matrigel, and E8/vitronectin, were differentiated into OVs (Optic vesicle-like structures) composed of NRPCs (neuroretinal progenitor cells). 2) Characterization of OVs (60 days in culture)- …
A team of eye researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have used a custom stem cell model of a rare but blinding eye disease to test whether a commonly used drug might offer hope for treatment.
Title: iPSC-Derived Forebrain Neurons from FXS Individuals Show Defects in Initial Neurite Outgrowth Legend: Left panel: Skin cells from individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that have characteristics of human embryonic stem cells. These iPSCs can then be differentiated into forebrain cortical neurons to study neuronal …
