Jun 27, 2022

Public workspaceDifferentiation of iPSC into Microglia-Like Cells (iMGL) V.3

  • 1Washington University in St Louis;
  • 2Washington University in Saint Louis - WUSTL (MO)
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Protocol CitationAbhirami Kannan Iyer, Emma Danhash, Fabia Filipello, Jacob Marsh, Rj Martinez, Celeste M M. Karch 2022. Differentiation of iPSC into Microglia-Like Cells (iMGL). protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.q26g7bwqklwz/v3Version created by Jacob Marsh
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it’s working
Created: February 10, 2022
Last Modified: July 19, 2024
Protocol Integer ID: 58022
Keywords: microglia, differentiation, hematopoietic progenitor cells,
Abstract
This protocol outlines the derivation of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells and differentiation of iMGLs using iPSC cultures. This protocol is modified the following papers.
CITATION
McQuade A, Coburn M, Tu CH, Hasselmann J, Davtyan H, Blurton-Jones M (2018). Development and validation of a simplified method to generate human microglia from pluripotent stem cells.. Molecular neurodegeneration.
CITATION
Abud EM, Ramirez RN, Martinez ES, Healy LM, Nguyen CHH, Newman SA, Yeromin AV, Scarfone VM, Marsh SE, Fimbres C, Caraway CA, Fote GM, Madany AM, Agrawal A, Kayed R, Gylys KH, Cahalan MD, Cummings BJ, Antel JP, Mortazavi A, Carson MJ, Poon WW, Blurton-Jones M (2017). iPSC-Derived Human Microglia-like Cells to Study Neurological Diseases.. Neuron.

Materials
Materials:
  • 6-well tissue culture plate(s)
  • 96-well tissue culture plate(s)
  • 15 ml conical tubes
  • Matrigel
  • PBS
  • Dispase
  • Accutase
  • DMEM/F12
  • StemProEZPassage Disposable Stem Cell Passaging Tool
  • mTesR1
  • Rock Inhibitor


Medium Recipes:

iMGL Diff Base Medium (per 100 ml)
Vendor Cat# vol
phenol-free DMEM/F12 (1:1) Thermo Fisher 11039021 92.5 mL
insulin (0.02 mg/ml) ITS-G (100X stock) Thermo Fisher 41400045 1 mL
holo-transferrin (0.011 mg/ml)
sodium selenite (13.4 ug/ml)
B27 (2% v/v) (50X stock) Thermo Fisher 17504044 4 mL
N2 (0.5%, v/v) (100X stock) Thermo Fisher 17502048 0.5 mL
monothioglycerol (200 uM) 11.5 M Sigma Aldrich M1753-100mL 1.75 uL
Glutamax (1X) (100X stock) 100X Thermo Fisher 35050061 1 mL
non-essential amino acids (NEAA; 1X) (100X stock) 100X Thermo Fisher 11140050 1 mL
Pen/ Strep 100X Thermo Fisher 15140-122 1 mL
(additional insulin (5 ug/mL)) we do not add it Sigma Aldrich I9278-5mL 47 uL

iMGL Diff Complete Medium
Vendor Cat# dilution
iMGL diff base medium
IL-34 (100 ng/mL) 500 ug/mL in H2O Peprotech 200-34 1:5000
TGFb-1 (50 ng/mL) 100 ug/mL in 10mM Citric Acid Peprotech 100-21 1:2000
M-CSF (25 ng/mL) 100 ug/mL in H2O Peprotech 300-25 1:4000
iMGL Maturation Medium
Vendor Cat# dilution
iMGL Complete medium
CD200 (100 ng/mL) 100 ug/mL Novoprotein C311-50ug 1:1000
CX3CL1 (100 ng/mL) 100 ug/mL Peprotech 300-31 1:1000
Safety warnings
Please refer to the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for health and environmental hazards.
Before start
Derivation of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells and Differentiation of iMGLs – Timeline
  1. iPSCs Culture (2-3 Days)
  2. iPSCs Aggregates Plating (1 Day) Critical: Go/No-Go Decision
  3. iPSCs Induction into Hematopoietic Stem Cells (12 Days) Critical: Go/No-Go Decision
  4. FACs Sorting CD43+CD34+ CD45+ Cells (1 Day)
  5. Freezing Down Sorted Hematopoietic Stem Cells (1 Day)
  6. Thawing Hematopoietic Stem Cells (1 Day)
  7. Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells into Induced Microglia (28 Days)
iPSCs Culture
iPSCs Culture
Thaw and culture iPSC line per the following protocol:
Protocol
iPSC Cell Culture – Maintenance and Expansion
NAME

iPSC Cell Culture – Maintenance and Expansion

CREATED BY
Scott Lee

To resuspend, thaw aliquot TemperatureOn ice .
Add Amount12.5 mL cold DMEM/F12.
Pipetting
Pipette up and down twice.
Pipetting
Add Amount1 mL of Matrigel per well of 6 well plate.
Pipetting
Store diluted Matrigel at Temperature4 °C .
Prior to thawing cells, coat plate with Matrigel for Duration01:00:00 .
Note
1 vial of iPSC should be thawed into 1 well of a 6 well plate.

Add Amount9 mL DMEM/F12 to a 15 ml conical tube labeled with the iPSC line name and passage number.
Pipetting
Remove cells from liquid nitrogen storage.
Quickly thaw cells in Temperature37 °C water bath and/or in hands.
Just prior to complete thaw, remove vial from water bath.
Transfer the contents of the cryo-vial (~ Amount1 mL ) into the 15 ml conical tube.
Pipetting
Spin at Centrifigation750 rpm for Duration00:03:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature .
Centrifigation
Aspirate media.
Resuspend cells in Amount2 mL mTesR1 (supplemented with Concentration5 micromolar (µM) Concentration10 micromolar (µM) Rock Inhibitor) by pipetting two times.
Pipetting
Transfer the cell solution to one well of a 6-well plate.
Pipetting
Incubate at Temperature37 °C DurationOvernight in 6 % CO2.
Incubation
Replace the media daily until cells are ready to split or analyze.

Note
Media should be changed daily. It is okay to skip a media change one time each week if double feeding is performed; however, this is largely dependent on the density of the cells and volume of media (do not double feed if cells are more than 70% confluent).

Aspirate media.
Gently add fresh mTesR1 to cells (volume depends on cell density and well size).
  • Amount0.5 mL per well to 24 well plate
  • Amount2 mL Amount4 mL per well to 6 well plate
  • Amount5 mL Amount10 mL to 10 cm2 plate
Pipetting
Incubate at Temperature37 °C in 6 % CO2.
Incubation

Note
When differentiating cells appear in the culture, it is important to remove all the cells promptly.
Repeated cleaning may be necessary over the course of several days to remove all the material. If differentiation is excessive and line is precious, perform subcloning.

Under microscope, remove differentiated cells with p20 or p200 tip (depending on the amount of differentiation). Transfer the cells/media to a biohazard bag.
Gently wash cells with 1x PBS.
Wash
Add fresh mTesR1.
  • Amount0.5 mL per well to 24 well plate
  • Amount2 mL Amount4 mL per well to 6 well plate
  • Amount5 mL Amount10 mL to 10 cm2 plate
Pipetting
Incubate at Temperature37 °C in 6 % CO2 until cells are 60 — 80 % confluent. Change mTesR1 media daily until
cells are needed. Repeat cleaning as necessary.
Incubation
iPSCs grow on Matrigel. Plates should be coated with Matrigel at least 1 hour prior to plating and no
longer than 24 hours prior to plating cells:
  • Amount0.5 mL in 12 well plate
  • Amount1 mL in 6 well plate
  • Amount4 mL in 10 cm2 plate
Note
It is critical to keep Matrigel on ice while coating. Prior to plating cells, ensure Matrigel has not
evaporated from well.

Pipetting
Aspirate media.
Gently wash cells with 1x PBS (2 — 3 ml/well).
Wash
Add Accutase (Gibco A11105-01) directly to the cells and incubate at Temperature37 °C for Duration00:03:00 Duration00:04:00 .
  • 6 well plate, add Amount0.75 mL Amount1 mL per well
  • 24 well plate, add Amount0.5 mL
  • 10 cm2 dish, add Amount3 mL
Pipetting
Tap dish to aid in dislocation of cells.
Add DMEM/F12 directly to cells and scrape gently to remove all cells (use p1000 for 24 well plate, and cell scraper for 6 well plate and 10cm2 dish).
  • 6 well plate, add Amount2 mL Amount4 mL per well
  • 24 well plate, add Amount1 mL
  • 10 cm2 dish, add Amount9 mL
Pipetting
Collect cells in conical tube (15 ml/50 ml depending on volume).
If necessary, add Amount2 mL Amount5 mL DMEM/F12 to dish to remove all cells from the dish and add to conical tube.
Pipetting
Centrifuge cells at Centrifigation750 rpm for Duration00:03:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature .
Centrifigation
Carefully aspirate supernatant.
Note
To avoid aspirating cell pellet, it is OK to leave a small amount of media (Amount0.5 mL Amount1 mL ).

Pipetting
Resuspend cell pellet with mTesR1 (Rock Inhibitor addition varies, see below).
  • Amount2 mL mTesR1 per well of a 6 well plate
  • Our goal is to maintain iPSC lines without using Rock Inhibitor; however, this must be done through careful weaning off Rock Inhibitor
  • All cells should be thawed in Rock Inhibitor:
- Concentration10 micromolar (µM) concentration for new iPSC lines, lines thawed from 96 well after editing.
- Concentration5 micromolar (µM) concentration if thawing from a line without knowledge of its Rock sensitivity.
- Concentration1 micromolar (µM) concentration for all other lines (for lines still exposed to Rock Inhibitor, use
Concentration1 micromolar (µM) . Otherwise, do not use Rock Inhibitor.)
Pipetting
Pipet cells 2 times only to preserve clumps.
Pipetting
Transfer cell suspension to appropriate plate (pre-coated with Matrigel for at least Duration01:00:00 ).
  • For maintenance, dilute cells 1:3 in mTesR1
  • For expansion, plate all cells
Pipetting
Incubate at Temperature37 °C in 6 % CO2 until cells are 60 — 80% confluent. Change mTesR1 media daily until cells are needed.
Incubation
Aspirate media.
Gently wash cells with 1x PBS (Use Amount2 mL Amount3 mL per well in 6 well plate).
Wash
Add Accutase (Gibbco A11105-01) directly to the cells and incubate at Temperature37 °C for Duration00:03:00 Duration00:04:00 .
  • 6 well plate, add Amount0.75 mL Amount1 mL per well
  • 10cm2 dish, add Amount3 mL
Pipetting
Tap dish to aid in dislocation of cells.
Add DMEM/F12 directly to cells.
  • 6 well plate, addAmount2 mL Amount4 mL per well
  • 10cm2 dish, add Amount9 mL
  • If cells remain attached, use a cell scraper to gently dislodge cells (apply gentle pressure and use 1 — 2 passes to remove cells)
Pipetting
Collect cells in conical tube (15 ml/50 ml depending on volume).
Add Amount2 mL Amount5 mL DMEM/F12 to dish to remove all cells from the dish and add to conical tube.
Pipetting
Centrifuge cells at Centrifigation750 rpm for Duration00:03:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature .
Centrifigation
Carefully aspirate supernatant.
Note
To avoid aspirating cell pellet, it is OK to leave a small amount of media (Amount0.5 mL Amount1 mL ).

Pipetting
Resuspend cell pellet with mTesR1 (No Rock Inhibitor).
  • Use volume appropriate for freezing
  • Assume Amount1 mL per cryovial total and add ½ total volume of mTesR1
  • Pipet cells 1 — 2 times only to preserve cell clumps
Note
Example: to freeze 10 tubes, you will need Amount10 mL total and will add Amount5 mL mTesR1 to cell pellet (and Amount5 mL of 2x Freezing Media below)

Pipetting
Add an equal volume of cold 2x Freezing Media (20 % DMSO, FBS). Pipet cells 1 time only to preserve cell clumps.
Pipetting
Transfer cell suspension to pre-labeled cryovials (Amount1 mL per cryovial).

Ensure that cryovials are labeled with the following:
  • Cell Type
  • Line Name
  • Passage #
  • Date
  • Your Name
Pipetting
Freeze vials at Temperature-80 °C in foam racks for Duration48:00:00 Duration72:00:00 .
Transfer vials to liquid nitrogen for long-term storage.
iPSCs Aggregate Plating
iPSCs Aggregate Plating
Once iPSCs are 70-80% confluent in 2-3 wells of a 6-well tissue culture plate, passage and plate the iPSCs as aggregates
Note
Aggregates should be approximately 100-200µm in diameter

Coat a 6-well tissue culture plate with Matrigel for a least Duration01:00:00 prior to passaging cells



Prepare desired volume of mTesR1 and 5-10µM ROCK Inhibitor (ROCKi = 1:2000 or 1:1000). After 1 hour of Matrigel coating, aspirate and replace with 2mL per well mTesR1 + Desired Concentration of ROCK Inhibitor. Pre-warm plates with media at 37°C and 6% CO2 until aggregates are ready to be plated.
Set the following media out to warm to TemperatureRoom temperature :
  • ReLeSR
  • DMEM/F12
  • PBS
  • mTesR1

After plate has been coated for Duration01:00:00 and media has warmed to TemperatureRoom temperature , proceed to passage aggregates as described below:

Aspirate media from well.
Wash cells with Amount2 mL of PBS per well

Aspirate PBS from well.
Add ReLeSR to cells Amount1 mL per well .

Incubate at TemperatureRoom temperature for between Duration00:01:00 and Duration00:01:30 .



2m 30s
Incubation
Aspirate the ReLeSR from the wells using a p1000 micropipette and allow cells to continue sitting without any reagent in the wells for Duration00:05:00 to Duration00:07:00 .

Note
At approximately 4.5 minutes, iPSC appear to be lifted from the base of the wells


12m
Add 1mL per well of mTesR1 + 5-10µM by gently allowing to trickle down the wall of the well. Tap the plate to release lifted cells to form aggregates of various sizes. Following this, use a p1000 to transfer 1mL of aggregates from each well to a 15mL conical tube without pipetting up and down
Note
The amount of iPSC aggregates released after ReLeSR treatment from one well of a 6-well plate is sufficient to perform aggregate plating in 1, 6-well plate or more depending on aggregate count. You may also notice some unattached aggregates after tapping, you can repeat this process and harvest another round, if required.


Wash
Perform triplicate aggregate counts to determine the average number of cell aggregates.
Pipette Amount100 µL of mTesR1 into three individual wells of a 96-well flat bottom tissue culture plate.

Pipette Amount5 µL of aggregate suspension to each well.

Manually count the number of aggregates in each well.
Note
A uniform suspension of aggregates (50-200µm size) is optimal. Do not count aggregates smaller than 100µm

Calculate the average number of aggregates per well.
Note
Add the number of aggregates per well and then divide by 3 to find the average number of aggregates per well

Next calculate the Concentration of Aggregates or Aggregates/uL.
Note
Take the average number of aggregates per well and divide by 5 (the dilution factor) to obtain the number of aggregates per microliter.

Determine the number of aggregates to plate in a 12-well or 6-well tissue culture plate.
Note
For a 12 well tissue culture plate it is recommended to plate 40 - 60 aggregates/well (10 aggregates/cm2) to achieve 16 colonies/well (4 - 10 colonies/cm2) adhered to the culture ware after 24 hours of incubation; however, multiple plating densities may need to be tested.

Note
For a 6 well tissue culture plate it is recommended to plate 40-60 aggregates/well to 6-well plates with mTESR1 + ROCKi media as prepared in Step 4. Multiple plating densities may need to be tested for each donor-derived iPSC line Prior to plating tap the conical tube once or twice to dislodge the pelleted aggregates (earlier wells may have bigger aggregates than later ones).

Place the plate in a 37°C, 6% CO2 incubator. Move the plate in several quick, short, back-and-forth, and side-to-side motions to distribute the cell aggregates. Do not disturb the plate for 24 hours.

Note
Usually the aggregates attach in about 6 hours, we have also performed aggregate plating early in the morning and after confirmation of attached aggregates, switched to Medium A on the same day in the evening

iPSCs Induction into Hematopoietic Stem Cells
iPSCs Induction into Hematopoietic Stem Cells
After 24 hours, confirm that 20- 38 colonies/well (6-well plate) or 16 - 40 colonies/well (p12 well-plate) are adhered to the plate. Ensure to count all colonies, including tiny colonies with only a few cells.

Note
To facilitate counting, aspirate medium, wash with PBS and replace with fresh mTeSR™1.

Note
CRITICAL: Do not proceed if cultures have < 16 colonies or > 40 colonies per well, as differentiation will be compromised

Critical
Prepare Medium A per the following recipe:

  1. Add Supplement A to Hematopoietic Basal Medium at a concentration of 1:200

Note
Medium A can be prepped and stored for a maximum of three days

Prepare Medium B per the following recipe:

1. Add Supplement B to Hematopoietic Basal Medium at a concentration of 1:200

Note
Medium B can be prepped and stored for a maximum of three days

Note
Medium A and Medium B can be prepared by adding Supplement A or B into STEMdiff Hematopoietic Basal Medium and stored frozen as 50mL aliquots in -20C until use

Change media on the cell aggregates using the following schedule for a 6 well tissue culture plate.
Day 0 - Aspirate medium from wells and add Amount2 mL of Medium A per well and incubate at 37°C, 6% CO2.

Note
Day 0 starts 24 hours after aggregate plating

Day 2 - Gently add Amount1 mL of Medium A to each well and incubate at 37°C, 6% CO2


Day 3 - Aspirate Medium A from wells and gently add Amount2 mL of Medium B per well.

Day 5 - Gently add Amount1 mL of Medium B to each well and incubate at 37°C, 6% CO2
Day 7 - Gently add Amount1 mL of Medium B to each well and incubate at 37°C, 6% CO2
Note
At this point, floating cells can often be seen in culture and they will continue to increase in number for the remainder of the protocol.

Day 10 - Gently add Amount1 mL of Medium B to each well and incubate at 37°C, 6% CO2
Note
If desired, cells may be harvested now as described for Day 12. The cell yield and proportion of CD34+CD45+ cells will be much lower at Day 10 than at Day 12.

Note
Between Days 7 and 10 add 1mL of Medium B to each well if media changes color to orange-yellowish

Harvesting Cells for FACS Sorting:
Pre-coat a 6 or 12 well tissue culture plate with Matrigel Duration01:00:00 prior to harvesting cells for FACS Sorting

Note
Harvest both the floating cells (>90% of these are CD43+ HPCs) and the adherent cells (10-70% are CD43+ HPCs). Recommend for every step to be done in sterile conditions.

Note
Keep HPCs cold on ice or at Temperature4 °C throughout the process of harvesting, staining for flow-sorting, collection after sorting and until ready to freeze them down if not proceeding with microglia differentiation immediately


1h
Floating and adherent cells should be harvested for FACS sorting on the twelfth day of culture for presence of the following cellular markers:
1) CD43
2) CD34
3) CD45
Begin harvesting floating cells using a serological pipette or 1mL micropipette, vigorously pipette media and cells up and down approximately 2-3 times in the well to break up floating cell aggregates.
Transfer floating cells and media to appropriately sized conical tube.
Wash well with Amount1 mL of DMEM/F12 , triturate, and transfer to same collection tube, this will ensure the majority of floating cells have been collected. Repeat at least one more time.



Centrifuge the collection tube at 300 x g for Duration00:05:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature .

Aspirate supernatant.
Re-suspend pellet in Amount300 µL of sterile FACS Buffer (PBS and 2% FBS) and keep on ice.

Note
If smaller cell pellet, resuspend in lower volume. If larger cell pellet, resuspend in larger volume

Filter the suspension through a 40µm filter before antibody staining or transfer cells into Filter FACS Tubes (Falcon 352235)
Begin harvesting Adherent Cells by first washing the well with Amount1 mL D-PBS and discarding the wash

Add Amount1 mL of Accutase to each well.
Incubate at Temperature37 °C forDuration00:20:00 .

20m
Triturate vigorously with a 1mL pipette tip to dislodge the adherent cells and create a single-cell suspension. Do not scrape residual colonies from the tissue culture plate surface, as these clumps will not further dissociate.
Transfer the single-cell suspension to a collection tube containing Amount2 mL of DMEM/F12

Wash the well with an additional 1mL of DMEM/F12. Add wash to the collection tube. Repeat.
Centrifuge the collection tube at 300 x g for Duration00:05:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature .
Aspirate supernatant.
Re-suspend pellet in Amount300 µL of sterile FACS Buffer (PBS and 2% FBS) and keep on ice.
Filter the suspension through a 40µm filter before antibody staining or transfer cells into Filter FACS Tubes (Falcon 352235)
FACS Sorting CD43+ CD34+ CD45+ Cells
FACS Sorting CD43+ CD34+ CD45+ Cells
To stain cells for FACS sorting, add the following antibodies to the filtered cell suspension (cells and FACS Buffer) in the noted concentrations:
  • CD34-FITC (1:200)
  • CD43-APC (1:200)
  • CD45 – Alexa Fluor700 (1:200)
  • CD41-PE (1:200) (optional)
Incubate cells and antibodies TemperatureOn ice in the dark for Duration00:20:00 .

Incubation
After incubation, add Amount2 mL of FACS Buffer to each tube and centrifuge at 300 x g for Duration00:05:00 .

Centrifigation
Aspirate supernatant.
Re-suspend pellet in Amount500 µL of FACS Buffer .
Sort the CD34+ and CD43+cell population using a Becton Dickinson FACSAria II and collect the selected population in sterile tubes.
Note
Sorting has to be performed in sterile conditions.

Note
In order to obtain high quality HPCs, it is suggested to sort only the CD34+, CD45+ and CD43+ triple positive cell population, discarding the single or double negative cells.

Note
If you wish to continue with the iMGL protocol from freshly sorted cells, skip the Freezing Down Sorted Hematopoietic Stem Cells steps. Re-suspend cell pellet in iMGL Diff Complete Medium at a concentration of ~200,000/300,000 cells per well of a 6 well tissue culture plate

Freezing Down Sorted Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Freezing Down Sorted Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Centrifuge positively sorted cells at 300 x g for Duration00:10:00 at Temperature4 °C .
10m
Centrifigation
Aspirate supernatant.
Re-suspend cells at a concentration of 1 million cells per Amount1 mL of Cryostor CS10 .

Aliquot Amount1 mL of cell and freezing medium suspension per cryovial.

Place cells in Temperature-80 °C for approximately Duration24:00:00 .

1d
Overnight
After 24 hours, cells must be transferred to liquid nitrogen for long-term storage.
Deriving iMGLs - Thawing Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Deriving iMGLs - Thawing Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Using previously sorted cryopreserved cells (Freezing Down Sorted Hematopoietic Stem Cells Section), place frozen vial of cells in Temperature37 °C water bath for quick thaw.
Note
Thaw should take less than one minute, remove cells from water bath prior to complete thaw.


Transfer contents of cryovial to a conical tube containing Amount8 mL of DMEM/F12 containing 5% FBS .

Centrifuge concial tube at 300 x g for Duration00:05:00 .
Aspirate supernatant.
Re-suspend cell pellet in iMGL Diff Complete Medium at a concentration of ~500,000 cells per well of a 6 well tissue culture plate


iMGL Differentiation Basal Medium (per 500 mL)

ABCDEF
ComponentStock Concentration Final Concentration VendorCatalog #Volume
Phenol-free DMEM/F12 (1:1)Thermofisher11039021462.4 mL
Insulin (0.02 mg/mL), Holo-transferrin (0.011 mg/mL), Sodium selenite (13.4 ug/mL) (ITS-G Solution)100X2XThermofisher4140004510 mL
B2750X2% V/VThermofisher1750404410 mL
N2100X0.5% V/VThermofisher175020482.5 mL
Monothioglycerol11.5M400 uMSigma AldrichM1753-100ML17.4 uL
Non-Essential Amino Acids (NEAA)100X1XThermofisher111400505 mL
Glutamax100X1XThermofisher350500615 mL
Pen/Strep100X1XThermofisher15140-1225 mL
Recombinant Human Insulin20 mg/mL5 ug/mLSigma AldrichI2643125 uL

iMGL Diff Complete Medium Recipe:
ABCDE
VendorCetalog #Dilution
iMGL Diff Base Medium
IL-34 (100 ng/ml)500 ug/mL in H20Peprotech200-341:5000
TGFb-1 (50 ng/ml)100 ug/mL in 10mM Citric AcidPeprotech100-211:2000
M-CSF (25 ng/ml)100 ug/mL in H20Peprotech300-251:4000

Note
iMGL differentiation basal medium is made at the start of each round of differentiation and more if required is made subsequently

Note
Aliquots of cytokines are stored at -80°C and added fresh to an aliquot of required volume of basal medium on teh day of media addition to iMGLs. Remaining volume of aliquots are stored at 4°C and used up first before thawing new aliquots for further days of media addition

Note
iMGL differentiation complete medium + 1x cytokines refers to required volume of basal medium + 1:5000 hIL-34 + 1:2000 hTGF-β1 + 1:4000 hM-CSF while complete medium + 2x cytokines refers to required volume of basal medium + 1:2500 hIL-34 + 1:1000 hTGF-β1 + 1:2000 hM-CSF

Note
For splitting steps, N refers to existing no. of wells and N’ refers to newer wells pre-coated with Matrigel at least for 1 h or O/N

Note
During splitting, all collected supernatants also will contain floating iMGLs while some are left behind attached to the wells

Note
IL-34, hTGF-β1 and M-CSF are cytokines that promote iMGL survival and homeostasis and are referred to as maintenance cytokines while CD200 and CX3CL1 cytokines that induce iMGL maturation and are accordingly referred to as maturation cytokines




Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells into iMGLs
Differentiation of Hematopoietic Stem Cells into iMGLs
6m
6m
Day 2 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.

Day 4 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 6 - Split and add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 2X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Collect all but 1mL of media from each well and transfer to a 50mL conical tube. Spin this supernatant media at 300 xg for Duration00:06:00 at TemperatureRoom temperature

6m
While above centrifugation is ongoing, split 3 existing wells (N) of iMGLs into 1 new well (N')

Note
There should be ~1 mL of cells in each well after harvesting supernatant in prior step. To split the cells, ~300 µL from each of the 3 existing wells is transferred to one new Matrigel-coated well for each line. iMGLs tend to be more confluent around the center of each well, therefore while taking up ~300 µL for splitting into new well, ensure to collect cells from the center of each well and pipette up/down one time around the center and then transfer the ~300 µL to the new well.

After spin step, aspirate supernatant after freezing an aliquot ( ~500 µL) for future ELISA experiments and resuspend cells in (N+N’) mL of iMGL differentiation complete medium + 2X cytokines and evenly distribute 1ml/well to N+N’ wells (this means you continue the culture in existing wells in addition to expansion into new wells with every splitting performed)
Day 8 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 10 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Note
Use extreme caution as plate is nearly full with media.

Day 12 - Split and add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 2X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate (Refer to Step 34)

Day 14 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 16 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 18 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 20 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 22 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Day 24 - Add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Complete Medium + 1X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate.
Note
Use extreme caution as plate is nearly full with media.

Note
At any point during the culture from Days 12 to 36, if cells look stressed either due to thawing, centrifugation or other reasons, add iMGL Differentiation Complete Medium + 2X Cytokines

Split and add Amount1 mL of IMGL Diff Maturation Medium + 2X Cytokines per well of a 6-well tissue culture plate (Refer to Step 34)

iMGL Maturation Media Recipe:


ABCDE
VendorCatalog #Dilution
iMGL Complete Medium
CD200 (100 ng/mL)100 ug/mLNovoproteinC311-50ug1:1000
CX3CL1 (100 ng/mL)100 ug/mLPeprotech300-311:1000


Note
Every 2 days, supplement cells with 1mL per well of iMGL Maturation Media (after day 37 feeding, maturation media + 1x maintenance and maturation cytokines unless if cells look stressed, in which case feed maturation media + 2x maintenance cytokines + 1x maturation cytokines)

Day 28 - Cells should have reached maturity by this step and are ready for experimental use.
Note
Continue feeding cells with iMGL Maturation Media. Mature Microglia-Like Cells can be used for approximately 2-3 weeks.


Citations
McQuade A, Coburn M, Tu CH, Hasselmann J, Davtyan H, Blurton-Jones M. Development and validation of a simplified method to generate human microglia from pluripotent stem cells.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-018-0297-x
Abud EM, Ramirez RN, Martinez ES, Healy LM, Nguyen CHH, Newman SA, Yeromin AV, Scarfone VM, Marsh SE, Fimbres C, Caraway CA, Fote GM, Madany AM, Agrawal A, Kayed R, Gylys KH, Cahalan MD, Cummings BJ, Antel JP, Mortazavi A, Carson MJ, Poon WW, Blurton-Jones M. iPSC-Derived Human Microglia-like Cells to Study Neurological Diseases.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.042