The effect of magnetic stimulation on differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells into neuron

Abstract

The effect of stem cell transplantation in the treatment of neural lesions is so far not satisfactory. Magnetic stimulation is a feasible exogenous interference to improve transplantation outcome. However, the effect of magnetic stimulation on the differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into neuron has not been studied. In this experiment, an in vitro neuron differentiation system from human iPSCs were established and confirmed. Three magnetic stimuli (high frequency [HF], low frequency [LF], intermittent theta-burst stimulation [iTBS]) were applied twice a day during the differentiation process. Immunofluorescence and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) were performed to analyze the effect of magnetic stimulation. Neural stem cells were obtained on day 12, manifested as floating neurospheres expressing neural precursor markers. All groups can differentiate into neurons while glial cell markers were not detected. Both Immunofluorescence and PCR results showed LF and iTBS increased the transcription and expression of neuronal nuclei (NeuN). HF significantly increased vesicular glutamate transporters2 transcription while iTBS promoted transcription of both synaptophysin and postsynaptic density protein 95. These results indicate that LF and iTBS can promote the generation of mature neurons from human iPSCs; HF may promote differentiate into glutamatergic neurons while iTBS may promote synapse formation during the differentiation.