At the time of submission of the orginal ALS iPS Go Grant, there were no well-validated protocols for generating astroglia from human ES or IPS cell lines, although approaches from rodent cells existed. Fortunately, we were able to develop a reliable protocol in both the Henderson lab and the Rothstein labs (Figure 5A). We now have a protocol that works identically in both labs?with very similar efficiency at differentiation between labs. We have also been able to detect evidence of true astroglial maturation in a number of lines that have advanced sufficiently and these express appropriate astroglial specific proteins and have functional glutamate transport (Figure 5B-D).
