ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2026
Modulation of WNT and FGF18 enhances yield and subtype identity of hPSC-derived midbrain dopamine neurons.
Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Engineering functional ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons in human organoids through WNT modulation and bioreactor culture.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Beyond phenotypic markers: rethinking dopaminergic identity in iPSC-derived neurons.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- NERINE reveals rare variant associations in gene networks across phenotypes and implicates an SNCA-PRL-LRRK2 subnetwork in Parkinson's disease.Cell genomics · 2026Article
- Identifying Age-Modulating Compounds Using a Novel Computational Framework for Evaluating Transcriptional Age.Aging cell · 2025Article
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22 authors.
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Abstract
While clinical trials of human pluripotent stem cell-derived midbrain dopamine (mDA) neuron precursor grafts for Parkinson's disease (PD) are ongoing, current protocols remain suboptimal. In particular, the yield of TH+ mDA neurons after in vivo grafting and the expression of certain mDA neuron and subtype-specific markers require improvement. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses of grafts have revealed low proportions of mDA neurons and substantial off-target contamination. Here, we present an optimized mDA neuron differentiation strategy that builds on our clinical-grade ("Boost") protocol by adding FGF18 and IWP2 treatment ("Boost+") at the neurogenesis stage. Boost+ mDA neurons show higher expression of EN1, PITX3, and ALDH1A1. Improvements in mDA neuron yield and transcriptional similarity to primary mDA neurons are observed in vitro and following transplantation. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing demonstrates enrichment of A9 mDA neurons within Boost+ grafts. Functional studies in vitro demonstrate increased dopamine production and release and improved electrophysiological properties. In vivo analyses show higher percentages of TH+ mDA neurons, resulting in efficient rescue of amphetamine-induced rotation behavior in the 6-OHDA rat model and rescue of deficits in some nondrug-induced assays, including the ladder rung assay, which are not improved by Boost mDA neurons. The Boost+ conditions present an optimized differentiation protocol with advantages for disease modeling and mDA neuron grafting paradigms.
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