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Astrocytes

Human iPSC-derived astrocytes

Astrocytes are essential players in neurodegenerative disease progression providing a valuable tool for drug discovery and disease modeling. Human iPSC-derived astrocytes generated with our standardized process express key identity markers and support co-culture with human iPSC-derived neurons. Our team can manufacture astrocytes at scale from the iPSC that best fits your project or work with off-the-shelf Ncyte Astrocytes to model relevant disease-phenotypes and support your drug discovery campaigns.

neural
AQP4 (green), GFAP (yellow), ßIIItubulin
(red) and DAPI (blue)
Benefits
  • High purity populations
  • Ideal for co-culturing with hiPSC-derived neurons
  • Suitable for neuroinflammatory assays
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Are you looking to use human iPSC-derived astrocytes for your drug discovery projects?

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Cellular Identity Physiologically Relevant Highly suitable for drug discovery

Ncyte Astrocytes display the characteristic star-shaped morphology of astrocytes in culture. They express key identity markers such us the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and makers of mature stage: S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100ß) and aquaporin 4 (AQP4). Further identification based on other biomarkers can be perfomed upon request.

Immunofluorescence labeling of AQP4 (green), GFAP (yellow), ßIIItubulin (red) and DAPI (blue) for Ncyte Astrocytes after 10 days of maturation.

Ncyte Astrocytes are a physiologically relevant tool for in vitro testing based on human biology. They recapitulate important functions of astrocytes in the brain, such as, contributing to the homeostasis of the glutamate neurotransmitter, which affects the neuronal firing activity. In this example, co-culturing of human iPSC-derived cortical neurons with Ncyte Astrocytes increased the neuronal firing activity and reduced extracellular levels of glutamate. This enables long-term studies and physiologically relevant disease modeling.

Multi-electrode array (MEA) raster plots of cortical neurons at day 14 post-thawing in absence (A) and presence of astrocytes (B). The overall neuronal electrical activity increases in the co-culture with astrocytes

Ncyte Astrocytes are highly suitable for long-term electrophysiological studies and disease modeling of neurodegenerative diseases where neuroinflammation plays an important role. Our team of neuroscientists is experienced in assay development and screening of neuroinflammatory responses and can help you assess the efficacy and safety of your therapeutic candidates in this context. 

Ncyte Astrocytes release inflammatory mediators such as IL-6, IL-8, CCL-2, and BDNF upon treatment with a pro-inflammatory cocktail, consisting of TNF-alpha, IL-1Beta and IFN-gamma. Study at day 7 post-thaw. (-): non-treated cells; (+/++/+++): cells treated with 3 increasing doses of the pro-inflammatory cocktail. Neuroinflammation study by combining human iPSC-derived astrocytes and HTRF, in collaboration with Cisbio.
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Our work centers on a simple yet powerful premise: 
When we combine deep iPSC knowledge, broad assay capabilities and a demonstrated ability to integrate the biology of human diseases into preclinical research, we can help drug developers make critical decisions earlier and with more confidence.