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Although the majority of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases are sporadic, about 5% of cases are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern as familial AD (FAD) and manifest at an early age. Mutations in the presenilin 1 (PSEN1) gene account for the majority of early-onset FAD. Here, we describe the generation of virus-free human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived from fibroblasts of patients harboring the FAD PSEN1 mutation A246E and fibroblasts from healthy age-matched controls using nonintegrating episomal vectors. We have differentiated these hiPSC lines to the neuronal lineage and demonstrated that hiPSC-derived neurons have mature phenotypic and physiological properties. Neurons from mutant hiPSC lines express PSEN1-A246E mutations themselves and show AD-like biochemical features, that is, amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) indicated by an increase in β-amyloid (Aβ)42/Aβ40 ratio. FAD hiPSCs harboring disease properties can be used as humanized models to test novel diagnostic methods and therapies and explore novel hypotheses for AD pathogenesis.

The potential of human embryonic stem (ES) cells as experimental therapies for neuronal replacement has recently received considerable attention. In view of the organization of the mature nervous system into distinct neural circuits, key challenges of such therapies are the directed differentiation of human ES cell-derived neural precursors (NPs) into specific neuronal types and the directional growth of axons along specified trajectories. In the present study, we cultured human NPs derived from the NIH-approved ES line BGO1 on polycaprolactone fiber matrices of different diameter (i.e., nanofibers and microfibers) and orientation (i.e., aligned and random); fibers were coated with poly-L-ornithine/laminin to mimic the extracellular matrix and support the adhesion, viability, and differentiation of NPs. On aligned fibrous meshes, human NPs adopt polarized cell morphology with processes extending along the axis of the fiber, whereas NPs on plain tissue culture surfaces or random fiber substrates form nonpolarized neurite networks. Under differentiation conditions, human NPs cultured on aligned fibrous substrates show a higher rate of neuronal differentiation than other matrices; 62% and 86% of NPs become TUJ1 (+) early neurons on aligned micro- and nanofibers, respectively, whereas only 32% and 27% of NPs acquire the same fate on random micro- and nanofibers. Metabolic cell activity/viability studies reveal that fiber alignment and diameter also have an effect on NP viability, but only in the presence of mitogens. Our findings demonstrate that fibrous substrates serve as an artificial extracellular matrix and provide a microenviroment that influences key aspects of the neuronal differentiation of ES-derived NPs.