The enteric neural crest progressively loses capacity to form enteric nervous system.

Cells of the vagal neural crest (NC) form most of the enteric nervous system (ENS) by a colonising wave in the embryonic gut, with high cell proliferation and differentiation. Enteric neuropathies have an ENS deficit and cell replacement has been suggested as therapy. This would be performed post-natally, which raises the question of whether the ENS cell population retains its initial ENS-forming potential with age. We tested this on the avian model in organ culture in vitro (3 days) using recipient aneural chick midgut/hindgut combined with ENS-donor quail midgut or hindgut of ages QE5 to QE10. ENS cells from young donor tissues (≤ QE6) avidly colonised the aneural recipient, but this capacity dropped rapidly 2-3 days after the transit of the ENS cell wavefront. This loss in capability was autonomous to the ENS population since a similar decline was observed in ENS cells isolated by HNK1 FACS. Using QE5, 6, 8 and 10 midgut donors and extending the time of assay to 8 days in chorio-allantoic membrane grafts did not produce 'catch up' colonisation. NC-derived cells were counted in dissociated quail embryo gut and in transverse sections of chick embryo gut using NC, neuron and glial marker antibodies. This showed that the decline in ENS-forming ability correlated with a decrease in proportion of ENS cells lacking both neuronal and glial differentiation markers, but there were still large numbers of such cells even at stages with low colonisation ability. Moreover, ENS cells in small numbers from young donors were far superior in colonisation ability to larger numbers of apparently undifferentiated cells from older donors. This suggests that the decline of ENS-forming ability has both quantitative and qualitative aspects. In this case, ENS cells for cell therapies should aim to replicate the embryonic ENS stage rather than using post-natal ENS stem/progenitor cells.

Method of derivation and differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells generating synchronous neuronal networks.

BACKGROUND: Stem cells-derived neuronal cultures hold great promise for in vitro disease modelling and drug screening. However, currently stem cells-derived neuronal cultures do not recapitulate the functional properties of primary neurons, such as network properties. Cultured primary murine neurons develop networks which are synchronised over large fractions of the culture, whereas neurons derived from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) display only partly synchronised network activity and human pluripotent stem cells-derived neurons have mostly asynchronous network properties. Therefore, strategies to improve correspondence of derived neuronal cultures with primary neurons need to be developed to validate the use of stem cell-derived neuronal cultures as in vitro models. NEW METHOD: By combining serum-free derivation of ESCs from mouse blastocysts with neuronal differentiation of ESCs in morphogen-free adherent culture we generated neuronal networks with properties recapitulating those of mature primary cortical cultures. RESULTS: After 35days of differentiation ESC-derived neurons developed network activity very similar to that of mature primary cortical neurons. Importantly, ESC plating density was critical for network development. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Compared to the previously published methods this protocol generated more synchronous neuronal networks, with high similarity to the networks formed in mature primary cortical culture. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that ESC-derived neuronal networks recapitulating key properties of mature primary cortical networks can be generated by optimising both stem cell derivation and differentiation. This validates the approach of using ESC-derived neuronal cultures for disease modelling and in vitro drug screening.

Enteric Neural Cells From Hirschsprung Disease Patients Form Ganglia in Autologous Aneuronal Colon.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is caused by failure of cells derived from the neural crest (NC) to colonize the distal bowel in early embryogenesis, resulting in absence of the enteric nervous system (ENS) and failure of intestinal transit postnatally. Treatment is by distal bowel resection, but neural cell replacement may be an alternative. We tested whether aneuronal (aganglionic) colon tissue from patients may be colonized by autologous ENS-derived cells. METHODS: Cells were obtained and cryopreserved from 31 HSCR patients from the proximal resection margin of colon, and ENS cells were isolated using flow cytometry for the NC marker p75 (nine patients). Aneuronal colon tissue was obtained from the distal resection margin (23 patients). ENS cells were assessed for NC markers immunohistologically and by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, and mitosis was detected by ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine labeling. The ability of human HSCR postnatal ENS-derived cells to colonize the embryonic intestine was demonstrated by organ coculture with avian embryo gut, and the ability of human postnatal HSCR aneuronal colon muscle to support ENS formation was tested by organ coculture with embryonic mouse ENS cells. Finally, the ability of HSCR patient ENS cells to colonize autologous aneuronal colon muscle tissue was assessed. RESULTS: ENS-derived p75-sorted cells from patients expressed multiple NC progenitor and differentiation markers and proliferated in culture under conditions simulating Wnt signaling. In organ culture, patient ENS cells migrated appropriately in aneural quail embryo gut, and mouse embryo ENS cells rapidly spread, differentiated, and extended axons in patient aneuronal colon muscle tissue. Postnatal ENS cells derived from HSCR patients colonized autologous aneuronal colon tissue in cocultures, proliferating and differentiating as neurons and glia. CONCLUSIONS: NC-lineage cells can be obtained from HSCR patient colon and can form ENS-like structures in aneuronal colonic muscle from the same patient.

Loss of gastrokine-2 drives premalignant gastric inflammation and tumor progression.

Chronic mucosal inflammation is associated with a greater risk of gastric cancer (GC) and, therefore, requires tight control by suppressive counter mechanisms. Gastrokine-2 (GKN2) belongs to a family of secreted proteins expressed within normal gastric mucosal cells. GKN2 expression is frequently lost during GC progression, suggesting an inhibitory role; however, a causal link remains unsubstantiated. Here, we developed Gkn2 knockout and transgenic overexpressing mice to investigate the functional impact of GKN2 loss in GC pathogenesis. In mouse models of GC, decreased GKN2 expression correlated with gastric pathology that paralleled human GC progression. At baseline, Gkn2 knockout mice exhibited defective gastric epithelial differentiation but not malignant progression. Conversely, Gkn2 knockout in the IL-11/STAT3-dependent gp130F/F GC model caused tumorigenesis of the proximal stomach. Additionally, gastric immunopathology was accelerated in Helicobacter pylori-infected Gkn2 knockout mice and was associated with augmented T helper cell type 1 (Th1) but not Th17 immunity. Heightened Th1 responses in Gkn2 knockout mice were linked to deregulated mucosal innate immunity and impaired myeloid-derived suppressor cell activation. Finally, transgenic overexpression of human gastrokines (GKNs) attenuated gastric tumor growth in gp130F/F mice. Together, these results reveal an antiinflammatory role for GKN2, provide in vivo evidence that links GKN2 loss to GC pathogenesis, and suggest GKN restoration as a strategy to restrain GC progression.

Why are enteric ganglia so small? Role of differential adhesion of enteric neurons and enteric neural crest cells.

The avian enteric nervous system (ENS) consists of a vast number of unusually small ganglia compared to other peripheral ganglia. Each ENS ganglion at mid-gestation has a core of neurons and a shell of mesenchymal precursor/glia-like enteric neural crest (ENC) cells. To study ENS cell ganglionation we isolated midgut ENS cells by HNK-1 fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) from E5 and E8 quail embryos, and from E9 chick embryos. We performed cell-cell aggregation assays which revealed a developmentally regulated functional increase in ENS cell adhesive function, requiring both Ca (2+) -dependent and independent adhesion. This was consistent with N-cadherin and NCAM labelling. Neurons sorted to the core of aggregates, surrounded by outer ENC cells, showing that neurons had higher adhesion than ENC cells. The outer surface of aggregates became relatively non-adhesive, correlating with low levels of NCAM and N-cadherin on this surface of the outer non-neuronal ENC cells. Aggregation assays showed that ENS cells FACS selected for NCAM-high and enriched for enteric neurons formed larger and more coherent aggregates than unsorted ENS cells. In contrast, ENS cells of the NCAM-low FACS fraction formed small, disorganised aggregates.  This suggests a novel mechanism for control of ENS ganglion morphogenesis where i) differential adhesion of ENS neurons and ENC cells controls the core/shell ganglionic structure and ii) the ratio of neurons to ENC cells dictates the equilibrium ganglion size by generation of an outer non-adhesive surface.

Retinoic acid upregulates ret and induces chain migration and population expansion in vagal neural crest cells to colonise the embryonic gut.

Vagal neural crest cells (VNCCs) arise in the hindbrain, and at (avian) embryonic day (E) 1.5 commence migration through paraxial tissues to reach the foregut as chains of cells 1-2 days later. They then colonise the rest of the gut in a rostrocaudal wave. The chains of migrating cells later resolve into the ganglia of the enteric nervous system. In organ culture, E4.5 VNCCs resident in the gut (termed enteric or ENCC) which have previously encountered vagal paraxial tissues, rapidly colonised aneural gut tissue in large numbers as chains of cells. Within the same timeframe, E1.5 VNCCs not previously exposed to paraxial tissues provided very few cells that entered the gut mesenchyme, and these never formed chains, despite their ability to migrate in paraxial tissue and in conventional cell culture. Exposing VNCCs in vitro to paraxial tissue normally encountered en route to the foregut conferred enteric migratory ability. VNCC after passage through paraxial tissue developed elements of retinoic acid signalling such as Retinoic Acid Binding Protein 1 expression. The paraxial tissue's ability to promote gut colonisation was reproduced by the addition of retinoic acid, or the synthetic retinoid Am80, to VNCCs (but not to trunk NCCs) in organ culture. The retinoic acid receptor antagonist CD 2665 strongly reduced enteric colonisation by E1.5 VNCC and E4.5 ENCCs, at a concentration suggesting RARα signalling. By FACS analysis, retinoic acid application to vagal neural tube and NCCs in vitro upregulated Ret; a Glial-derived-neurotrophic-factor receptor expressed by ENCCs which is necessary for normal enteric colonisation. This shows that early VNCC, although migratory, are incapable of migrating in appropriate chains in gut mesenchyme, but can be primed for this by retinoic acid. This is the first instance of the characteristic form of NCC migration, chain migration, being attributed to the application of a morphogen.

Transcriptional changes in somatic cells recovered from embryonic stem-somatic heterokaryons.

Following fusion, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are capable of reprogramming somatic cells in cell hybrids. It has also been shown that transcriptional changes can occur in a heterokaryon, without nuclear hybridization. However, it is unclear whether these changes can be sustained after the removal of the dominant nucleus. In this study, we analyze the changes in embryonic stem (ES)-somatic heterokaryons following the removal of the ESCs nucleus. We also show that after ES-somatic cell fusion using tetraploid ESCs, a heterokaryon can be reverted to an autologous diploid state by differential enucleation of the denser tetraploid ES nucleus. To recover somatic cells from ES-somatic heterokaryons, we fused tetraploid ESCs containing the thymidine kinase (TK) suicide gene with mesenchymal stem cells containing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgene under the control of the OCT4 promoter. Following post-fusion enucleation (PFE), negative selection against the tetraploid ES genome was achieved using ganciclovir. The resulting GFP-positive clones were analyzed and shown to have undergone changes in growth characteristics, alkaline phosphatase activity, and gene expression using RT-PCR and microarray analysis. These results demonstrate that a change in transcriptional expression can be detected in somatic cells after the removal of the ES nucleus from ES-somatic heterokaryons.