Robust Production of Parvalbumin Cortical Interneurons and Fast-Spiking Neurons from Human Medial Ganglionic Eminence Organoids

Varela, M. C.; Walker, M. P.; Bok, J.; Crespo, E. L.; Thenstedt, T.; Goldstein, L.; Tidball, A. M.; Li, J. Z.; Yuan, Y.; Isom, L.; Fu, J.; Uhler, M.; Parent, J. M.

doi:10.1101/2025.07.01.662594

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.07.01.662594

Robust Production of Parvalbumin Cortical Interneurons and Fast-Spiking Neurons from Human Medial Ganglionic Eminence Organoids

Varela, M. C.·Walker, M. P.·Bok, J.·Crespo, E. L.·Thenstedt, T.·Goldstein, L.·Tidball, A. M.·Li, J. Z.·Yuan, Y.·Isom, L.·Fu, J.·Uhler, M.·Parent, J. M.

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Abstract

The medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) gives rise to parvalbumin (PV)-and somatostatin (SST)-expressing cortical interneurons essential for regulating cortical excitability. Although PV interneurons are linked to various neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, reliably generating them from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has been extremely challenging. We present a robust, reproducible protocol for generating single-rosette MGE organoids (MGEOs) from hPSCs. Transcriptomic analyses reveal that MGEOs exhibit MGE regional identity and faithfully model the developing human fetal MGE. As MGEOs mature, they generate abundant PV-expressing cortical interneurons, including putative basket and axoaxonic cells, at a scale not previously achieved in vitro. When fused with human cortical organoids (hCOs), these interneurons rapidly migrate into the hCOs, integrate into excitatory networks, and contribute to complex electrophysiological patterns and the emergence of large numbers of fast-spiking neurons. Using this model, we uncover a previously unreported migration deficit of MGE interneurons in a disease model of SLC6A1 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, offering potential insights into the developmental contributions to epileptogenesis. MGEOs thus offer a powerful in vitro approach for probing human MGE-lineage cortical and subcortical GABAergic neuron development, modeling various neuropsychiatric disorders, and advancing cell-based therapies for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. HighlightsO_LIGeneration of subpallial organoids highly enriched for MGE lineages C_LIO_LIMGE organoids (MGEOs) robustly produce parvalbumin-expressing cortical interneurons C_LIO_LIComplex network activity and fast-spiking neurons are generated in assembloids C_LIO_LIImpaired interneuron migration in SLC6A1 knockout and patient-derived MGEOs C_LI Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/662594v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (69K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1fce574org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@3c28d2org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19bf737org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@834f2b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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Varela, M. C., Walker, M. P., Bok, J., Crespo, E. L., Thenstedt, T., Goldstein, L., Tidball, A. M., Li, J. Z., Yuan, Y., Isom, L., Fu, J., Uhler, M., Parent, J. M.. 2025-07-04. Robust Production of Parvalbumin Cortical Interneurons and Fast-Spiking Neurons from Human Medial Ganglionic Eminence Organoids. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.01.662594

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