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Research in iPSC-Based Disease Models

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024 | Viewed by 4309

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Regulatory Research Division, Centre for Oncology, Radiopharmaceuticals and Research, Biologic and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
Interests: gene editing; stem cells

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a new disease model and drug discovery tool, challenging the current limitations of animal models. Patient-specific iPSCs provide unlimited access to disease-relevant cells that are difficult to harvest, such as brain neurons and cardiomyocytes. Phenotypes associated with various diseases can be monitored and tested by using diverse cell types differentiated from iPSCs in culture. Monolayer 2D iPSC-derived cultures are convenient for the high-throughput screening of new drugs, some of which are being tested in clinical trials; however, 3D organoid models better reflect the cell–matrix interaction found in tissues and organs in vivo, such as the brain, heart, liver, kidney, gut, and lung. For example, midbrain organoids can model the key features of Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, the emergent gene editing fields provide the capacity to introduce or correct disease mutations in iPSCs to assess their contributions. Editing disease mutations in iPSCs to generate isogenic controls can shed light onto the causal relationship between genotypes and phenotypes; therefore, iPSCs have emerged as a wonderful model to facilitate new drug discovery and drug repositioning in human health.

This Special Issue will include recent advances in iPSC-based models of various diseases, in which gene editing is leveraged to highlight the impact of risk mutations.

Dr. Eric Deneault
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • iPSCs
  • disease model
  • organoid
  • gene editing
  • mutation correction
  • isogenic control

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 49596 KiB  
Article
An Inducible Luminescent System to Explore Parkinson’s Disease-Associated Genes
by Anelya Gandy, Gilles Maussion, Sara Al-Habyan, Michael Nicouleau, Zhipeng You, Carol X.-Q. Chen, Narges Abdian, Nathalia Aprahamian, Andrea I. Krahn, Louise Larocque, Thomas M. Durcan and Eric Deneault
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(17), 9493; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25179493 - 31 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1323
Abstract
With emerging genetic association studies, new genes and pathways are revealed as causative factors in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, many of these PD genes are poorly characterized in terms of their function, subcellular localization, and interaction with other components in [...] Read more.
With emerging genetic association studies, new genes and pathways are revealed as causative factors in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, many of these PD genes are poorly characterized in terms of their function, subcellular localization, and interaction with other components in cellular pathways. This represents a major obstacle towards a better understanding of the molecular causes of PD, with deeper molecular studies often hindered by a lack of high-quality, validated antibodies for detecting the corresponding proteins of interest. In this study, we leveraged the nanoluciferase-derived LgBiT-HiBiT system by generating a cohort of tagged PD genes in both induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and iPSC-derived neuronal cells. To promote luminescence signals within cells, a master iPSC line was generated, in which LgBiT expression is under the control of a doxycycline-inducible promoter. LgBiT could bind to HiBiT when present either alone or when tagged onto different PD-associated proteins encoded by the genes GBA1, GPNMB, LRRK2, PINK1, PRKN, SNCA, VPS13C, and VPS35. Several HiBiT-tagged proteins could already generate luminescence in iPSCs in response to the doxycycline induction of LgBiT, with the enzyme glucosylceramidase beta 1 (GCase), encoded by GBA1, being one such example. Moreover, the GCase chaperone ambroxol elicited an increase in the luminescence signal in HiBiT-tagged GBA1 cells, correlating with an increase in the levels of GCase in dopaminergic cells. Taken together, we have developed and validated a Doxycycline-inducible luminescence system to serve as a sensitive assay for the quantification, localization, and activity of HiBiT-tagged PD-associated proteins with reliable sensitivity and efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in iPSC-Based Disease Models)
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Review

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26 pages, 1678 KiB  
Review
Differentiation of Sinoatrial-like Cardiomyocytes as a Biological Pacemaker Model
by Yvonne Sleiman, Jean-Baptiste Reisqs and Mohamed Boutjdir
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(17), 9155; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25179155 - 23 Aug 2024
Viewed by 835
Abstract
Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are widely used for disease modeling and pharmacological screening. However, their application has mainly focused on inherited cardiopathies affecting ventricular cardiomyocytes, leading to extensive knowledge on generating ventricular-like hiPSC-CMs. Electronic pacemakers, despite their utility, have significant [...] Read more.
Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are widely used for disease modeling and pharmacological screening. However, their application has mainly focused on inherited cardiopathies affecting ventricular cardiomyocytes, leading to extensive knowledge on generating ventricular-like hiPSC-CMs. Electronic pacemakers, despite their utility, have significant disadvantages, including lack of hormonal responsiveness, infection risk, limited battery life, and inability to adapt to changes in heart size. Therefore, developing an in vitro multiscale model of the human sinoatrial node (SAN) pacemaker using hiPSC-CM and SAN-like cardiomyocyte differentiation protocols is essential. This would enhance the understanding of SAN-related pathologies and support targeted therapies. Generating SAN-like cardiomyocytes offers the potential for biological pacemakers and specialized conduction tissues, promising significant benefits for patients with conduction system defects. This review focuses on arrythmias related to pacemaker dysfunction, examining protocols’ advantages and drawbacks for generating SAN-like cardiomyocytes from hESCs/hiPSCs, and discussing therapeutic approaches involving their engraftment in animal models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in iPSC-Based Disease Models)
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Other

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18 pages, 8310 KiB  
Protocol
A Dynamic Protocol to Explore NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation in Cerebral Organoids
by Dana El Soufi El Sabbagh, Liliana Attisano, Ana Cristina Andreazza and Alencar Kolinski Machado
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(12), 6335; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25126335 - 7 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1195
Abstract
The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a crucial role in the inflammatory response, reacting to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). This response is essential for combating infections and restoring tissue homeostasis. However, chronic activation can lead to detrimental effects, particularly in [...] Read more.
The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a crucial role in the inflammatory response, reacting to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). This response is essential for combating infections and restoring tissue homeostasis. However, chronic activation can lead to detrimental effects, particularly in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Our study seeks to provide a method to effectively measure the NLRP3 inflammasome’s activation within cerebral organoids (COs), providing insights into the underlying pathophysiology of these conditions and enabling future studies to investigate the development of targeted therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in iPSC-Based Disease Models)
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