Lilach Simchi, Pooja Kri Gupta, Yonatan Feuermann, and Hanoch Kaphzan
Molecular Psychiatry, 2023
Scientists use Axion’s live-cell imaging platform, Omni FL, to study different stages of apoptosis in a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder, Angelman syndrome.
This study focuses on understanding the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the early development of Angelman syndrome (AS). The Omni FL was used to investigate the extent of apoptosis in neural precursor cells (NPCs) with or without UBE3A gene, loss of which leads to AS development, supposedly as a result of elevated levels of ROS. The results of this study indicate that AS brain-derived NPCs lacking UBE3A show mitochondrial aberration, increased ROS levels and apoptosis, suggesting that UBE3A gene plays a key role in mitochondrial function during the embryonic development of AS, with ROS contributing to the control of neural stem and progenitor cells growth.
