hESC- and hiPSC-derived Schwann cells are molecularly comparable and functionally equivalent
Kathryn R. Moss,
Ruifa Mi,
Riki Kawaguchi,
Jeffrey T. Ehmsen,
Qiang Shi,
Paula I. Vargas,
Bipasha Mukherjee-Clavin,
Gabsang Lee,
Ahmet Höke
Affiliations
Kathryn R. Moss
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Ruifa Mi
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Riki Kawaguchi
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Jeffrey T. Ehmsen
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Qiang Shi
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Paula I. Vargas
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Bipasha Mukherjee-Clavin
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Gabsang Lee
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Ahmet Höke
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Division, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Establishing robust models of human myelinating Schwann cells is critical for studying peripheral nerve injury and disease. Stem cell differentiation has emerged as a key human cell model and disease motivating development of Schwann cell differentiation protocols. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are considered the ideal pluripotent cell but ethical concerns regarding their use have propelled the popularity of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Given that the equivalence of hESCs and hiPSCs remains controversial, we sought to compare the molecular and functional equivalence of hESC- and hiPSC-derived Schwann cells generated with our previously reported protocol. We identified only modest transcriptome differences by RNA sequencing and insignificant proteome differences by antibody array. Additionally, both cell types comparably improved nerve regeneration and function in a chronic denervation and regeneration animal model. Our findings demonstrate that Schwann cells derived from hESCs and hiPSCs with our protocol are molecularly comparable and functionally equivalent.
