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Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from neural stem cells

Nature Protocols volume 4, pages 1464–1470 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from mouse and human somatic cells by expression of defined transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, Klf4, Nanog and Lin28) is a powerful tool for conducting basic research and investigating the potential of these cells for replacement therapies. In our laboratory, iPS cells have been generated from adult mouse neural stem cells (NSCs) by ectopic expression of either Oct4 alone (one factor; 1F) or Oct4 plus Klf4 (two factors; 2F). Successful reprogramming of mouse NSCs by 1F or 2F depends on endogenous expression of Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. Direct reprogramming of somatic stem cells to 1F or 2F iPS cells avoids expression of the oncogenes Klf4 and c-Myc and, hence, the development of tumors in chimeras and offspring derived from these cells. Here we present a detailed protocol for the derivation of NSCs from adult mouse brain (which takes 4 weeks), and generation of 1F (4–5 weeks) or 2F iPS cells (2–3 weeks) from adult mouse NSCs.

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Figure 1: Schematic figure depicting reprogramming of neural stem cells (NSCs) into a state of pluripotency.
Figure 2: Quantitative real-time PCR analyses of expression levels of Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4 in neural stem cells (NSCs) relative to embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
Figure 3: Derivation and characterization of neural stem cells (NSCs) isolated from an OG2–ROSA26 transgenic mouse brain.
Figure 4: Generation of two factor (2F) and one factor (1F) induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from mouse neural stem cells (NSCs).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Martin Zenke, RWTH Aachen for conducting microarrays and Jeanine Müller-Keuker for illustrations. This work has been supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG grant SCHO 340/4-1 and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF grant S01GN 0811.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Münster, Germany

    Jeong Beom Kim, Holm Zaehres, Marcos J Araúzo-Bravo & Hans R Schöler

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  1. Jeong Beom Kim
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  2. Holm Zaehres
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  3. Marcos J Araúzo-Bravo
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  4. Hans R Schöler
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Contributions

J.B.K.: protocol design, generation and characterization of NSC and iPS cells, preparation of manuscript, H.Z.: protocol design, generation of iPS cells, preparation of manuscript, M.J.A.B.: characterization of iPS cells and H.R.S.: protocol design, preparation of manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hans R Schöler.

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Kim, J., Zaehres, H., Araúzo-Bravo, M. et al. Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from neural stem cells. Nat Protoc 4, 1464–1470 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2009.173

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