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Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by heterozygous variants in the gene encoding transcription factor ZEB2. Affected individuals present with structural brain abnormalities, speech delay and epilepsy. In mice, conditional loss of Zeb2 causes hippocampal degeneration, altered migration and differentiation of GABAergic interneurons, a heterogeneous population of mainly inhibitory neurons of importance for maintaining normal excitability. To get insights into GABAergic development and function in MWS we investigated ZEB2 haploinsufficient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) of MWS subjects together with iPSC of healthy donors. Analysis of RNA-sequencing data at two time points of GABAergic development revealed an attenuated interneuronal identity in MWS subject derived iPSC with enrichment of differentially expressed genes required for transcriptional regulation, cell fate transition and forebrain patterning. The ZEB2 haploinsufficient neural stem cells (NSCs) showed downregulation of genes required for ventral telencephalon specification, such as FOXG1, accompanied by an impaired migratory capacity. Further differentiation into GABAergic interneuronal cells uncovered upregulation of transcription factors promoting pallial and excitatory neurons whereas cortical markers were downregulated. The differentially expressed genes formed a neural protein-protein network with extensive connections to well-established epilepsy genes. Analysis of electrophysiological properties in ZEB2 haploinsufficient GABAergic cells revealed overt perturbations manifested as impaired firing of repeated action potentials. Our iPSC model of ZEB2 haploinsufficient GABAergic development thus uncovers a dysregulated gene network leading to immature interneurons with mixed identity and altered electrophysiological properties, suggesting mechanisms contributing to the neuropathogenesis and seizures in MWS.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have brought great promises for disease modeling and cell-based therapies. One concern related to the use of reprogrammed somatic cells is the loss of genomic integrity and chromosome stability, a hallmark for cancer and many other human disorders. We investigated 16 human iPSC lines reprogrammed by nonintegrative Sendai virus (SeV) and another 16 iPSC lines generated by integrative lentivirus for genetic changes. At early passages we detected cytogenetic rearrangements in 44% (7/16) of iPSC lines generated by lentiviral integration whereas the corresponding figure was 6% (1/16) using SeV-based delivery. The rearrangements were numerical and/or structural with chromosomes 5 and 12 as the most frequently involved chromosomes. Three iPSC lines with chromosome 5 aberrations were derived from one and the same donor. We present in this study the aberrant karyotypes including a duplication of chromosome 5q13q33 that restricts a candidate region for growth advantage. Our results suggest that the use of integrative lentivirus confers a higher risk for cytogenetic abnormalities at early passages when compared to SeV-based reprogramming. In combination, our findings expand the knowledge on acquired cytogenetic aberrations in iPSC after reprogramming and during culture.