Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to brain microvascular endothelial cell-like cells suitable to study immune cell interactions

Hideaki Nishihara; Benjamin D. Gastfriend; Pelin Kasap; Sean P. Palecek; Eric V. Shusta; Britta Engelhardt

STAR Protocols (Jun 2021)

Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to brain microvascular endothelial cell-like cells suitable to study immune cell interactions

Hideaki Nishihara,
Benjamin D. Gastfriend,
Pelin Kasap,
Sean P. Palecek,
Eric V. Shusta,
Britta Engelhardt

Affiliations

Hideaki Nishihara: Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 1, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Benjamin D. Gastfriend: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Pelin Kasap: Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 1, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Sean P. Palecek: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Eric V. Shusta: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53792, USA; Corresponding author
Britta Engelhardt: Theodor Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 1, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; Corresponding author

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 2, no. 2
p. 100563

Abstract

Read online

Summary: We describe the extended endothelial cell culture method (EECM) for the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into brain microvascular endothelial cell (BMEC)-like cells. EECM-BMEC-like cells resemble primary human BMECs in morphology, molecular junctional architecture, and diffusion barrier characteristics. A mature immune phenotype with proper endothelial adhesion molecule expression makes this model distinct from any other hPSC-derived in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) model and suitable to study immune cell migration across the BBB in a disease relevant and personalized fashion.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Lian et al. (2014), Nishihara et al. (2020a).

Published in STAR Protocols

ISSN: 2666-1667 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Science (General)
Website: https://star-protocols.cell.com/

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords