SH-SY5Y is a human neuroblastoma cell line that can be differentiated into several neuronal phenotypes, depending on culture conditions. For this reason, this cell line has been widely used as an in vitro model of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson\'s disease (PD). However, most studies published to date used fetal bovine serum (FBS) as culture medium supplement for SH-SY5Y cell differentiation. We report on the testing of human platelet lysate (hPL) as a culture medium supplement to support SH-SY5Y cell culture. Both standard hPL and a fibrinogen-depleted hPL (FD-hPL) formulation, which does not require the addition of anticoagulants to culture media, promoted an increase in SH-SY5Y cell proliferation in comparison to FBS, without compromising metabolic activity. SH-SY5Y cells cultured in hPL or FD-hPL also displayed a higher number of neurite extensions and stained positive for MAP2 and synaptophysin, in the absence of differentiation stimuli; reducing hPL or FD-hPL concentration to 1% v/v did not affect cell proliferation or metabolic activity. Furthermore, following treatment with retinoic acid (RA) and further stimulation with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor beta (NGF-β), the percentage of SH-SY5Y cells stained positive for dopaminergic neuronal differentiation markers (tyrosine hydroxylase [TH] and Dopamine Transporter [DAT]) was higher in hPL or FD-hPL than in FBS, and gene expression of dopaminergic markers TH, DAT, and DR2 was also detected. Overall, the data herein presented supports the use of hPL to differentiate SH-SY5Y cells into a neuronal phenotype with dopaminergic features, and the adoption of FD-hPL as a fully xenogeneic free alternative to FBS to support the use of SH-SY5Y cells as a neurodegeneration model.

It has recently been reported that the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway regulates neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from rats or mice and is essential for the self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). However, the roles of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways during proliferation and dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effect of regulation of these intracellular signaling pathways in hNSCs on the potential to maintain proliferation and induce dopaminergic neuronal differentiation. Dopaminergic neuronal differentiation depended on the concentration of insulin in our culture system. Inhibition of PI3K/Akt with LY294002 reduced proliferation and inhibited dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of these cells. We also found that rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of mTOR, significantly reduced neuronal differentiation without affecting proliferation. Inhibition of the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway led to inhibition of p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K) signaling, which reduced dopaminergic neuronal differentiation in hNSCs. Inhibition of S6K by a specific chemical inhibitor, PF-4708671 inhibited dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of hNSCs. As expected, transduction with a dominant negative S6K1 (S6K1-DN) construct impaired dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of hNSCs. Conversely, overexpression of constitutively active S6K1 (S6K1-CA) promoted dopaminergic neuronal differentiation of these cells. In a survival study, 4 weeks after transplantation, no or very few donor cells were viable in striata grafted with S6K1-DN-transduced hNSCs. In contrast, S6K1-CA-transduced hNSCs survived, integrated into striata to generate tubular masses of grafts and differentiated toward TH-positive cells. Taken together, these data demonstrated that insulin promotes dopaminergic neuronal differentiation through a PI3K/Akt/mTOR-dependent pathway and that S6K plays a critical role in dopaminergic neuronal differentiation in hNSCs.

Midbrain dopamine neuronal progenitors develop into heterogeneous subgroups of neurons, such as substantia nigra pars compacta, ventral tegmental area and retrorubal field, that regulate motor control, motivated and addictive behaviours. The development of midbrain dopamine neurons has been extensively studied, and these studies indicate that complex cross-regulatory interactions between extrinsic and intrinsic molecules regulate a precise temporal and spatial programme of neurogenesis in midbrain dopamine progenitors. To elucidate direct molecular interactions between multiple regulatory factors during neuronal differentiation in mice, we characterised genome-wide binding sites of the forkhead/winged helix transcription factor Foxa1, which functions redundantly with Foxa2 to regulate the differentiation of mDA neurons. Interestingly, our studies identified a rostral brain floor plate Neurog2 enhancer that requires direct input from Otx2, Foxa1, Foxa2 and an E-box transcription factor for its transcriptional activity. Furthermore, the chromatin remodelling factor Smarca1 was shown to function downstream of Foxa1 and Foxa2 to regulate differentiation from immature to mature midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Our genome-wide Foxa1-bound cis-regulatory sequences from ChIP-Seq and Foxa1/2 candidate target genes from RNA-Seq analyses of embryonic midbrain dopamine cells also provide an excellent resource for probing mechanistic insights into gene regulatory networks involved in the differentiation of midbrain dopamine neurons.

Parkinson\'s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease attributed to the loss of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons. The current lack of predictive models for this disease has been hampered by the acquirement of robust cells, posing a major barrier to drug development. Differentiation of stem cells into subtype specific cells may be guided by appropriate topographical cues but the role of topography has hitherto not been well understood. We used a Multi-Architecture (MARC) chip with various topographical structures and identified three topographies, which generate DA neurons from murine hippocampal neural progenitor cells with the highest percentage of neuronal (β-III-tubulin positive) and dopaminergic (tyrosine hydroxylase positive) populations. Analysis on single pattern structures showed that 2 μm gratings with 2 μm spacing and 2 μm height (2 μm gratings) and 2 μm gratings with hierarchical structure produced cells with the highest gene expression of TH and PITX3, with the longest neurite and highest percentage of alignment. Quantitative image analysis showed the 2 μm gratings produced cells with the highest expression of pituitary homeobox 3 (PITX3), LIM homeobox transcription factor 1 alpha (LMX1a), aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 (ALDH1a1) and microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP2), as compared to nano-gratings and unpatterned controls. These patterns also enhance DA neuron differentiation on different substrate rigidities, as seen on both poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) substrates. These results show the use of topographical influence for neuronal subtype specification, which could be translated into a wide range of clinical applications for PD.