TY - JOUR
T1 - Reprogramming cultured human fungiform (HBO) taste cells into neuron-like cells through in vitro induction
AU - Elkaddi, Nadia
AU - Malik, Bilal
AU - Spielman, Andrew I.
AU - Ozdener, Mehmet Hakan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge Dr. Joel Mainland for editorial assistance and suggestions. The authors thank Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Blanco for technical support during part of this project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Society for In Vitro Biology.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Human taste cells are a heterogeneous population of specialized epithelial cells that are constantly generated from progenitor taste cells. Type I and type III taste cells express some neural markers, and studies have reported that direct innervation by neurons is not required for taste cell development. To our knowledge, no previous study has demonstrated that taste cells can differentiate into neuron-like cells or any other non-taste cell type. Here, for the first time, we describe a simple in vitro method that uses a serum-free neural induction medium to differentiate cultured physiologically functional primary human taste (HBO) cells into neuron-like cells in 2–3 wk with high efficiency. We verified neural attributes of these HBO-derived neuron-like with immunocytochemistry, single-cell calcium imaging, and DiI staining and examined cell morphology using transmission electron microscopy. Induced neuron-like cells demonstrated neuron-specific proteins, dendritic and axonal morphology, and networking behaviors. This technique will open new avenues for translational medicine, autologous cell therapy, regenerative medicine, therapy for neurodegenerative disorders, and drug screening.
AB - Human taste cells are a heterogeneous population of specialized epithelial cells that are constantly generated from progenitor taste cells. Type I and type III taste cells express some neural markers, and studies have reported that direct innervation by neurons is not required for taste cell development. To our knowledge, no previous study has demonstrated that taste cells can differentiate into neuron-like cells or any other non-taste cell type. Here, for the first time, we describe a simple in vitro method that uses a serum-free neural induction medium to differentiate cultured physiologically functional primary human taste (HBO) cells into neuron-like cells in 2–3 wk with high efficiency. We verified neural attributes of these HBO-derived neuron-like with immunocytochemistry, single-cell calcium imaging, and DiI staining and examined cell morphology using transmission electron microscopy. Induced neuron-like cells demonstrated neuron-specific proteins, dendritic and axonal morphology, and networking behaviors. This technique will open new avenues for translational medicine, autologous cell therapy, regenerative medicine, therapy for neurodegenerative disorders, and drug screening.
KW - Differentiation
KW - Neuronal cells
KW - Reprogramming
KW - Taste cells
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U2 - 10.1007/s11626-022-00724-4
DO - 10.1007/s11626-022-00724-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 36307636
AN - SCOPUS:85140824428
SN - 1071-2690
VL - 58
SP - 817
EP - 829
JO - In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal
JF - In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal
IS - 9
ER -