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OLIG gene targeting in human pluripotent stem cells for motor neuron and oligodendrocyte differentiation

Nature Protocols volume 6, pages 640–655 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Pluripotent stem cells can be genetically labeled to facilitate differentiation studies. In this paper, we describe a gene-targeting protocol to knock in a GFP cassette into key gene loci in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), and then use the genetically tagged hPSCs to guide in vitro differentiation, immunocytochemical and electrophysiological profiling and in vivo characterization after cell transplantation. The Olig transcription factors have key roles in the transcription regulatory pathways for the genesis of motor neurons (MNs) and oligodendrocytes (OLs). We have generated OLIG2-GFP hPSC reporter lines that reliably mark MNs and OLs for monitoring their sequential differentiation from hPSCs. The expression of the GFP reporter recapitulates the endogenous expression of OLIG genes. The in vitro characterization of fluorescence-activated cell sorting-purified cells is consistent with cells of the MN or OL lineages, depending on the stages at which they are collected. This protocol is efficient and reliable and usually takes 5–7 months to complete. The genetic tagging-differentiation methodology used herein provides a general framework for similar work for differentiation of hPSCs into other lineages.

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Figure 1: The gene-targeting strategy at the OLIG2 locus.
Figure 2: Long-range genomic PCR to screen for homologous recombinants in OLIG2-GFP gene targeting.
Figure 3: Flowchart of the differentiation of motor neurons (MNs) and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) from OLIG2-GFP knock-in hESCs.
Figure 4: Representative current-clamp recording traces from the OLIG2-GFP knock-in hESC-derived GFP-positive motor neurons.
Figure 5: OLIG2-GFP knock-in hESCs give rise to OPCs that later generate mature oligodendrocytes.
Figure 6: GFP-expressing cells differentiated into oligodendrocytes after transplantation into rat spinal cords.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM, RT1-01107-1 to Y.L.), the National Institutes of Health (R01NS061983 and R01ES015988 to W.D.), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (to W.D.) and by Shriners Hospitals for Children (to W.D.). P.J. is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from Shriners Hospitals for Children. Y.L. thanks H. Xue for technical assistance; J. Loring, L. Laurent and M. Rao for support; B. Ranscht (Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute) for the GalC antibody; and the CIRM shared laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute for providing accommodation and facilities.

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  1. Ying Liu and Peng Jiang: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA

    Ying Liu

  2. Center for Regenerative Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA

    Ying Liu

  3. Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA

    Peng Jiang & Wenbin Deng

  4. Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Sacramento, California, USA

    Peng Jiang & Wenbin Deng

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  1. Ying Liu
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  2. Peng Jiang
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Y.L., P.J. and W.D. designed the experiments, and wrote and finally approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ying Liu or Wenbin Deng.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Liu, Y., Jiang, P. & Deng, W. OLIG gene targeting in human pluripotent stem cells for motor neuron and oligodendrocyte differentiation. Nat Protoc 6, 640–655 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2011.310

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