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Familial intracranial aneurysms (FIAs) are distinguished by significant genetic predisposition, leading to clustering of cases within families and heightening the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) following aneurysm rupture. This review analyzes recent advancements in understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying FIAs, focusing on key genetic risk factors and environmental influences. We explore cutting-edge genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, which have identified susceptibility genes such as ANGPTL6, PPIL4, and NOTCH3 as crucial contributors to FIA pathophysiology. By incorporating findings from multi-omics and gene-editing research, we highlight the potential for improved screening, preventive strategies, and therapeutic approaches. These insights are essential to advancing precision medicine in managing FIAs, paving the way for collaborative research and targeted interventions., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The differentiation of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into specific neuronal subtypes has been exploited as an approach for modeling a variety of neurological disorders. However, achieving a highly pure population of neurons is challenging when using directed differentiation methods, especially for neuronal subtypes generated by complex and protracted protocols. In this study, we efficiently produced highly pure populations of regionally specified CNS neurons by using a modified NGN2-Puromycin direct conversion protocol. The protocol is amenable across a range of iPSC lines, with more than 95% of cells at day 21 positive for the neuronal marker MAP2. We found that conversion from pluripotent stem cells resulted in neurons from the central and peripheral nervous system; however, by incorporating a short CNS patterning step, we eliminated these peripheral neurons. Furthermore, we used the patterning step to control the rostral-caudal identity. This approach of sequential patterning and conversion produced pure populations of forebrain neurons, when patterned with SMAD inhibitors. Additionally, when SMAD inhibitors and WNT agonists were applied, the approach produced anterior hindbrain excitatory neurons and resulted in a neuronal population containing VSX2/SHOX2 V2a interneurons. Overall, this sequential patterning and conversion protocol can be used for the production of a variety of CNS excitatory neurons from patient-derived iPSCs, and is a highly versatile system for investigating early disease events for a range of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease, motor neurons disease and spinal cord injury., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We generated an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line from fibroblasts of a clinically diagnosed 70 year old female Parkinson's disease (PD) patient heterozygous for a pathogenic missense variant (p.G2019S; c. 6055 G > A) in the leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene by using non-integrating Sendai viruses. The DANi-011A iPSC line has a normal karyotype and is free from Sendai viruses. The expression of pluripotent markers in the iPSC line was confirmed by immunofluorescent staining, and we confirmed its ability to differentiate into the three germ layers. The DANi-011A iPSC line can be used for modeling PD and as a drug-screening platform., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We generated eight induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with different familial mutations using non-integrating episomal plasmids. All iPSC lines have a normal karyotype, express pluripotent genes including POU5F1, NANOG, and show alkaline phosphatase activity, as well as the ability to differentiate into all three germ layers. These PD iPSC lines can be used for disease modeling to identify PD mechanisms and for the development or stratification of new drugs., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Hippo signaling pathway plays a crucial role in suppressing tumorigenesis. Physiologically, The Hippo signaling largely restricts its two downstream effectors, homologous oncoproteins Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ), to a low level of activity by the MST1-SAV1 complex-induced kinase cascade. However, how the negative regulation induced by MST1-SAV1 complex is disrupted to exhibit constitutive YAP/TAZ activation in cancer remains unclear. Herein, we reported that miR-130b directly repressed MST1 and SAV1 expression in human glioblastoma cells. Overexpression of miR-130b induced hyperactivation of the YAP/TAZ and enhanced expression of the Hippo signaling downstream genes CTGF and the pluripotency associated markers, including CD133, SOX2, Nanog, MYC and BMI1, leading to promotion of glioblastoma stem cell phenotype. Conversely, inhibition of miR-130b attenuated these effects. These findings provide a novel mechanism for Hippo signaling inactivation in cancer, indicating not only a potentially pivotal role for miR-130b in the progression of glioblastoma, but also may represent a new therapeutic target., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.)