In order to expand the source of neurons, Creative Bioarray has established a reliable and advanced cell reprogramming platform to provide clients with direct reprogramming of human urine cells into neurons. We believe that our efficient and professional services will accelerate your research in the field of neurological disease modeling and regenerative medicine.
Introduction
The invasive collection of primary neuronal cells restricts the availability of human neuronal cells (hNCs). To expand the source of hNCs, iPS cells and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been used to differentiate into neuronal cells in vitro. However, in addition to tumorigenic properties, the tedious procedures for iPSCs induction and target cell differentiation have limited the use of iPSCs. Direct reprogramming is an alternative option to generate patient-specific cells. In addition, lineage reprogramming strategies allow rapid manipulation of cell fate to obtain the target cell types without the risk of teratoma.
Combined expression of neuronal lineage-specific transcription factors can directly reprogram fibroblasts or other somatic cells into neurons. However, the use of ectopic transgenes to induce lineage reprogramming still faces safety issues. Small molecules approaches have shown advantages in transdifferentiation as an alternative. Small molecules can promote exogenous gene-driven transdifferentiation. More importantly, a complete chemical induction medium is sufficient to achieve cell lineage reprogramming without the integration of exogenous genes. This suggests that the small molecules approach is promising in the field of reprogramming, with non-immunogenicity and cost-effectiveness.
Fig.1 Immunofluorescence staining of chemical-induced neuronal cells. (Xu, 2019)
Our Services
Researchers at Creative Bioarray help customers directly reprogram human urine cells into neurons through a variety of strategies including transcription factors induction and chemical compounds induction. The services we provide include but are not limited to：
- We provide a non-invasive method to directly reprogram urinary cells into functional neurons by overexpression of a defined set of transcription factors (Ascl1, NeuroD, Brn2, c-Myc, and Myt11) in urine-derived cells of healthy individuals or Wilson's disease (WD) patients.
- We have developed another novel approach to induce the transdifferentiation of human urine-derived cells into hNCs using a combination of seven small molecules (CAYTFVB: CHIR99021, A8301, Y-27632, TTNPB, Forskolin, VPA, NaB) cocktails without the introduction of transcription factors or miRNAs.
Applications
- Development of neural disease modeling
- Drug screening
- Development of potential cell-based therapies
- Research on neural cells that carry the disease-specific genetic variants
Creative Bioarray has a dedicated research team to provide services for reprogramming urine cells into neurons, and a variety of assays to ensure that the induced neuronal cells exhibit typical neuron-like morphology and express mature neuronal markers. If you need related technical support, please feel free to contact us.
References
- Xu, G.; et al. Direct conversion of human urine cells to neurons by small molecules. Scientific reports. 2019, 9(1): 1-10.
- Zhang, S.Z.; et al. Modeling neurological disease by rapid conversion of human urine cells into functional neurons. Stem cells international. 2016, 2016:2452985.