Correlation and Comparison of Cortical and Hippocampal Neural Progenitor Morphology and Differentiation through the Use of Micro- and Nano-Topographies

Abstract

Neuronal morphology and differentiation have been extensively studied on topography. The differentiation potential of neural progenitors has been shown to be influenced by brain region, developmental stage, and time in culture. However, the neurogenecity and morphology of different neural progenitors in response to topography have not been quantitatively compared. In this study, the correlation between the morphology and differentiation of hippocampal and cortical neural progenitor cells was explored. The morphology of differentiated neural progenitors was quantified on an array of topographies. In spite of topographical contact guidance, cell morphology was observed to be under the influence of regional priming, even after differentiation. This influence of regional priming was further reflected in the correlations between the morphological properties and the differentiation efficiency of the cells. For example, neuronal differentiation efficiency of cortical neural progenitors showed a negative correlation with the number of neurites per neuron, but hippocampal neural progenitors showed a positive correlation. Correlations of morphological parameters and differentiation were further enhanced on gratings, which are known to promote neuronal differentiation. Thus, the neurogenecity and morphology of neural progenitors is highly responsive to certain topographies and is committed early on in development.

Osteogenesis‐Inducing Chemical Cues Enhance the Mechanosensitivity of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Osteogenic Differentiation on a Microtopographically Patterned Surface

“…[44][45][46] Moreover, other studies have shown that microtopography induces neural, cartilage, or even adipogenic trans-differentiation of hMSCs. [47][48][49][50][51] Consistently, we found that osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs was inefficient when microtopography alone was used. However, if chemical factors were used to determine the osteogenic lineage of hMSCs in advance, the osteogenic induction effect of microtopography was greatly improved.…”

Sequential Application of Discrete Topographical Patterns Enhances Derivation of Functional Mesencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

“…We showed that when the pillar topography was applied at the maturation stage, it will not only result in increased branching as observed in a previous study 21 , but also enhances the maturation and changes electrophysiological properties of the neurons. In comparison, cortical neurons differentiated on gratings have been observed to display less branching 29 . Further evaluation on different feature sizes of the patterns may be performed to determine the optimal topographical dimensions for DA neuronal differentiation.…”

Differential mitochondrial bioenergetics and cellular resilience in astrocytes, hepatocytes, and fibroblasts from aging baboons

“…In a morphometric analysis of differentiated cortical and hippocampal astrocytes derived from neural progenitor cells, cortical astrocytes displayed numerous short, well-defined projections with multiple branches per projection and smaller soma areas. In contrast, hippocampal astrocytes possess larger soma areas with few but long projections with almost no branching [31]. The distinctions in astrocytic projections, which is crucial for energy processing in support of neuronal metabolism through delivery of substrate from capillaries to synapse, may underlie the heightened energetic profile of cortical astrocytes compared to hippocampal astrocytes.…”