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Canals I, Comella-Bolla A, Cepeda-Prado E, Avaliani N, Crowe JA, Oburoglu L, Bruzelius A, King N, Pajares MA, Pérez-Sala D, Heuer A, Rylander Ottosson D, Soriano J, Ahlenius H. Astrocyte dysfunction and neuronal network hyperactivity in a CRISPR engineered pluripotent stem cell model of frontotemporal dementia. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad158. [PMID: 37274831 PMCID: PMC10233896 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most prevalent type of early-onset dementia and up to 40% of cases are familial forms. One of the genes mutated in patients is CHMP2B, which encodes a protein found in a complex important for maturation of late endosomes, an essential process for recycling membrane proteins through the endolysosomal system. Here, we have generated a CHMP2B-mutated human embryonic stem cell line using genome editing with the purpose to create a human in vitro FTD disease model. To date, most studies have focused on neuronal alterations; however, we present a new co-culture system in which neurons and astrocytes are independently generated from human embryonic stem cells and combined in co-cultures. With this approach, we have identified alterations in the endolysosomal system of FTD astrocytes, a higher capacity of astrocytes to uptake and respond to glutamate, and a neuronal network hyperactivity as well as excessive synchronization. Overall, our data indicates that astrocyte alterations precede neuronal impairments and could potentially trigger neuronal network changes, indicating the important and specific role of astrocytes in disease development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isaac Canals
- Correspondence to: Isaac Canals Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University Klinikgatan 26 BMC B10, 22184, Lund, Sweden E-mail:
| | | | | | | | - James A Crowe
- Lund Stem Cell Center, 22184, Lund, Sweden
- Glial and Neuronal Biology lab, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Leal Oburoglu
- Lund Stem Cell Center, 22184, Lund, Sweden
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Development group, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Andreas Bruzelius
- Lund Stem Cell Center, 22184, Lund, Sweden
- Regenerative Neurophysiology group, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Naomi King
- Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - María A Pajares
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, C.S.I.C., 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Dolores Pérez-Sala
- Department of Structural and Chemical Biology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, C.S.I.C., 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andreas Heuer
- Behavioural Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Daniella Rylander Ottosson
- Lund Stem Cell Center, 22184, Lund, Sweden
- Regenerative Neurophysiology group, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 22184, Lund, Sweden
| | - Jordi Soriano
- The Neurophysics group, Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), 08028, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Henrik Ahlenius
- Correspondence may also be addressed to: Henrik Ahlenius E-mail:
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