Differential acute impact of therapeutically effective and overdose concentrations of lithium on human neuronal single cell and network function.

Lithium salts are used as mood-balancing medication prescribed to patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders, such as bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. Lithium salts cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain parenchyma within few hours after oral application, however, how lithium influences directly human neuronal function is unknown. We applied patch-clamp and microelectrode array technology on human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cortical neurons acutely exposed to therapeutic (<1 mM) and overdose concentrations (>1 mM) of lithium chloride (LiCl) to assess how therapeutically effective and overdose concentrations of LiCl directly influence human neuronal electrophysiological function at the synapse, single-cell, and neuronal network level.

TGF-β1 Suppresses Proliferation and Induces Differentiation in Human iPSC Neural Models.

Persistent neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation is, among others, a hallmark of immaturity in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-based neural models. TGF-β1 is known to regulate NSCs during embryonic development in rodents. Here we examined the role of TGF-β1 as a potential candidate to promote differentiation of hiPSCs-derived NSCs and maturation of neuronal progenies.