WDR62 Regulates Early Neural and Glial Progenitor Specification of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Mutations in WD40-repeat protein 62 (WDR62) are commonly associated with primary microcephaly and other developmental cortical malformations. We used human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) to examine WDR62 function during human neural differentiation and model early stages of human corticogenesis. Neur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abdullah J. Alshawaf, Ana Antonic, Efstratios Skafidas, Dominic Chi-Hung Ng, Mirella Dottori
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-01-01
Series:Stem Cells International
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7848932
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Mutations in WD40-repeat protein 62 (WDR62) are commonly associated with primary microcephaly and other developmental cortical malformations. We used human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) to examine WDR62 function during human neural differentiation and model early stages of human corticogenesis. Neurospheres lacking WDR62 expression showed decreased expression of intermediate progenitor marker, TBR2, and also glial marker, S100β. In contrast, inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling during hPSC neural differentiation induced upregulation of WDR62 with a corresponding increase in neural and glial progenitor markers, PAX6 and EAAT1, respectively. These findings may signify a role of WDR62 in specifying intermediate neural and glial progenitors during human pluripotent stem cell differentiation.
ISSN:1687-966X
1687-9678