Functional identification of molecules that promote midbrain dopaminergic fate and neuritogenesis from embryonic stem ce
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Institute of Clinical Sciences
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
Parkinson‘s disease (PD) is a terminal progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects 120,000 individuals in the UK alone. Most therapeutic strategies attempt to augment declining nigrostriatal dopamine function with drug or cell-based dopamine replacement strategies. However, the development of therapeutic paradigms via either approach is limited by a lack of sufficient understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying differential vulnerability of substantia nigra dopaminergic (DA) neurons.
My objectives therefore are to understand the molecular make up of the midbrain DA lineage, to investigate the roles played by these molecules in midbrain development, and to apply these molecules in promoting DA fate determination and axon growth from stem cells. This knowledge would facilitate the development of stem cell based therapeutic strategies for treating PD and may provide insight into development of pharmaceutical drug targets. The experimental design is based on DA differentiation using embryonic stem cell model system and modern mouse genetic approach. We have generated ES cells and mice that express eGFP specifically in midbrain dopaminergic neurons via gene targeting in the midbrain DA specific Pitx3 gene. We have shown that these ES cells serve as a valuable cellular system to track midbrain DA differentiation and functional evaluation of potential DA regulators. We have carried out a microarray analysis comparing the expression profile of embryonic day 12 DA neurons with that of Pitx3-deficient DA neurons and midbrain non-DA cells, using FACS purified cell population. This study identified candidate transcription factors and axon guidance cues which provide the fundation for works proposed in this application.
The anticipated outcome of this application is the identification of key determinants for midbrain DA neurons and factors regulating neuritogenesis of these cells. From a therapeutic stand point, this work will identify novel target to push stem cells towards a dopaminergic fate in vitro which provides as a basis for their potential in developing pharmaceutical and cell based therapies for treating Parkinson‘s disease. Furthermore, the proposed study also allows further development of the Pitx3-GFP, Pitx3-taulacZ and Pitx3-/- ES cell systems and this in turn would facilitate the future exploitation of these technologies in Parkinson‘s related pharmaceutical drug screen program.
My objectives therefore are to understand the molecular make up of the midbrain DA lineage, to investigate the roles played by these molecules in midbrain development, and to apply these molecules in promoting DA fate determination and axon growth from stem cells. This knowledge would facilitate the development of stem cell based therapeutic strategies for treating PD and may provide insight into development of pharmaceutical drug targets. The experimental design is based on DA differentiation using embryonic stem cell model system and modern mouse genetic approach. We have generated ES cells and mice that express eGFP specifically in midbrain dopaminergic neurons via gene targeting in the midbrain DA specific Pitx3 gene. We have shown that these ES cells serve as a valuable cellular system to track midbrain DA differentiation and functional evaluation of potential DA regulators. We have carried out a microarray analysis comparing the expression profile of embryonic day 12 DA neurons with that of Pitx3-deficient DA neurons and midbrain non-DA cells, using FACS purified cell population. This study identified candidate transcription factors and axon guidance cues which provide the fundation for works proposed in this application.
The anticipated outcome of this application is the identification of key determinants for midbrain DA neurons and factors regulating neuritogenesis of these cells. From a therapeutic stand point, this work will identify novel target to push stem cells towards a dopaminergic fate in vitro which provides as a basis for their potential in developing pharmaceutical and cell based therapies for treating Parkinson‘s disease. Furthermore, the proposed study also allows further development of the Pitx3-GFP, Pitx3-taulacZ and Pitx3-/- ES cell systems and this in turn would facilitate the future exploitation of these technologies in Parkinson‘s related pharmaceutical drug screen program.
