Fig. 1: MDD patient LCLs reprogrammed to iPSCs and differentiated into functional cortical neurons.

A Schematic illustration protocol and analysis. Major depression disorder (MDD) patient lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) were reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using Sendai viruses. iPSCs were then rapidly differentiated into cortical neurons, treated with an antidepressant and analyzed thereafter using immunofluorescent staining and RNA-sequencing. B Five days into the differentiation protocol, patient-derived cells were positive for the neural progenitor markers PAX6 and Nestin. Scale bars represent 260 µm. C After 25 days, neurons were positive for the cortical neural markers TBR1 and BRN2. Scale bars represent 100 µm. D Mature neurons were also positive for synapsin and MAP2. Scale bars represent 50 µm. E Neural gene expression of iPSC-derived cortical neurons is similar to postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tissues and different from undifferentiated iPSCs. F Differential interference contrast (DIC) (left) and fluorescent (right) representative microscopy images taken during electrophysiological recording. G Representative whole-cell intracellular recording of spontaneous activity. Inset: two individual action potentials marked by an arrow. H Representative firing pattern of a recorded neuron following a prolonged high amplitude depolarization current step.