Neuron Replating, a Powerful and Versatile Approach to Study Early Aspects of Neuron Differentiation

Join this interactive session as Felix Schneider discusses his recent paper, “Neuron Replating, a Powerful and Versatile Approach to Study Early Aspects of Neuron Differentiation” with eNeuro Editor-in-Chief Christophe Bernard. Attendees can submit questions at registration and live during the webinar. 

Below is the significance statement of Neuron Replating, a Powerful and Versatile Approach to Study Early Aspects of Neuron Differentiation, published on May 6, 2021, in eNeuro and authored by Felix Schneider, Thuy-An Duong, and Marco B. Rust

Unraveling the molecular mechanisms that control neuron differentiation requires reporter gene expression or gene inactivation. In mouse primary hippocampal neurons, a widely used cellular system to study neuron differentiation, classical transfection methods are restricted to later stages of differentiation. Instead, electroporation allows genetic manipulation before seeding. However, time course of reporter gene expression or gene inactivation frequently hinders a full characterization of neuron differentiation, specifically of early stages. To circumvent this limitation, we combined electroporation-based genetic manipulation before initial seeding with a replating step after 2 d in vitro (DIV), which reset neurons into an undifferentiated stage. We show that replated neurons differentiated similar to non-replated neurons. We provide a detailed protocol that allows to comprehensively characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying neuron differentiation.

Speakers

Christophe Bernard, PhD

Christophe Bernard, PhD, is the PhysioNet team leader in at the Institute of Neuroscience Systems at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). His research focuses on understanding how physiological and pathological behaviors emerge from the organization and reorganization of the underlying neuronal architecture, with an emphasis on epilepsy. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of eNeuro.

Felix Schneider MSc

Felix Schneider is a PhD student at the Philipps-University of Marburg. Schneider’s main research interests lie in neuronal actin dynamics. He received his BSc in technical biology from the University of Stuttgart and his MSc in human biology with a major in cell biology from the Philipps-University of Marburg.