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The derivation of somatic motoneurons (MNs) from ES cells (ESCs) after exposure to sonic hedgehog (SHH) and retinoic acid (RA) is one of the best defined, directed differentiation strategies to specify fate in pluripotent lineages. In mouse ESCs, MN yield is particularly high after RA + SHH treatment, whereas human ESC (hESC) protocols have been generally less efficient. In an effort to optimize yield, we observe that functional MNs can be derived from hESCs at high efficiencies if treated with patterning molecules at very early differentiation steps before neural induction. Remarkably, under these conditions, equal numbers of human MNs were obtained in the presence or absence of SHH exposure. Using pharmacological and genetic strategies, we demonstrate that early RA treatment directs MN differentiation independently of extrinsic SHH activation by suppressing the induction of GLI3. We further demonstrate that neural induction triggers a switch from a poised to an active chromatin state at GLI3. Early RA treatment prevents this switch by direct binding of the RA receptor at the GLI3 promoter. Furthermore, GLI3 knock-out hESCs can bypass the requirement for early RA patterning to yield MNs efficiently. Our data demonstrate that RA-mediated suppression of GLI3 is sufficient to generate MNs in an SHH-independent manner and that temporal changes in exposure to patterning factors such as RA affect chromatin state and competency of hESC-derived lineages to adopt specific neuronal fates. Finally, our work presents a streamlined platform for the highly efficient derivation of human MNs from ESCs and induced pluripotent stem cells., Significance Statement: Our study presents a rapid and efficient protocol to generate human motoneurons from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. Surprisingly, and in contrast to previous work, motoneurons are generated in the presence of retinoic acid but in the absence of factors that activate sonic hedgehog signaling. We show that early exposure to retinoic acid modulates the chromatin state of cells to be permissive for motoneuron generation and directly suppresses the induction of GLI3, a negative regulator of SHH signaling. Therefore, our data point to a novel mechanism by which retinoic acid exposure can bypass the requirement for extrinsic SHH treatment during motoneuron induction., (Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3511462-20$15.00/0.)

Chloride (Cl(-)) homeostasis is critical for many cell functions including cell signaling and volume regulation. The action of GABA at GABA(A) receptors is primarily determined by the concentration of intracellular Cl(-). Developmental regulation of intracellular Cl(-) results in a depolarizing response to GABA in immature neocortical neurons and a hyperpolarizing or shunting response in mature neocortical neurons. One protein that participates in Cl(-) homeostasis is the neuron-specific K(+)-Cl(-) cotransporter (KCC2). Thermodynamic considerations predict that in the physiological ranges of intracellular Cl(-) and extracellular K(+) concentrations, KCC2 can act to either extrude or accumulate Cl(-). To test this hypothesis, we examined KCC2 function in pyramidal cells from rat neocortical slices in mature (18-28 d postnatal) and immature (3-6 d postnatal) rats. Intracellular Cl(-) concentration was estimated from the reversal potential of whole-cell currents evoked by local application of exogenous GABA. Both increasing and decreasing the extracellular K(+) concentration resulted in a concomitant change in intracellular Cl(-) concentration in neurons from mature rats. KCC2 inhibition by furosemide caused a change in the intracellular Cl(-) concentration that depended on the concentration of pipette Cl(-); in recordings with low pipette Cl(-), furosemide lowered intracellular Cl(-), whereas in recordings with elevated pipette Cl(-), furosemide raised intracellular Cl(-). In neurons from neonatal rats, manipulation of extracellular K(+) had no effect on intracellular Cl(-) concentration, consistent with the minimal KCC2 mRNA levels observed in neocortical neurons from immature animals. These data demonstrate a physiologically relevant and developmentally regulated role for KCC2 in Cl(-) homeostasis via both Cl(-) extrusion and accumulation.

The transient outward potassium current was studied in outside-out macropatches excised from the soma of CA1 pyramidal neurons and stratum (st.) oriens-alveus inhibitory interneurons in rat hippocampal slices. Arachidonic acid dose dependently decreased the charge transfer associated with the transient current, concomitant with an increase in the rate of current inactivation. Arachidonic acid (AA) did not affect the voltage dependence of steady state inactivation but did prolong the period required for complete recovery from inactivation. The effects of AA were mimicked by the nonmetabolizable analog of AA, 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid, suggesting that metabolic products of AA were not responsible for the observed blocking action. In addition, AA blocked st. oriens-alveus-lacunosum-moleculare interneuron transient currents but not currents recorded from basket cell interneurons. In current clamp experiments, AA was without effect on the action potential waveform of CA1 pyramidal neurons under control recording conditions. In voltage-clamp experiments, the use of a test pulse paradigm, designed to mimic the action potential voltage trajectory, revealed that the transient current normally associated with a single spike deactivates too rapidly for AA to have an effect. Transient currents activated by longer duration "action potential" waveforms, however, were attenuated by AA. Consistent with this finding was the observation that AA broadened interictal spikes recorded in the elevated [K+]o model of epilepsy. These data suggest that AA liberated from hippocampal neurons may act to block the transient current selectively in both CA1 pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons and to broaden action potentials selectively under pathological conditions.