Harnessing the Potential of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Motor Neurons for Drug Discovery in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: From the Clinic to the Laboratory and Back to the Patient

Abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neurodegenerative disorder whose cellular hallmarks are the progressive death of motor neurons (MNs) located in the anterior horn of the spinal cord, brainstem and motor cortex, and the formation of intracellular protein aggregates. Over the course of the disease, progressive paralysis takes place, leading to patient death within 3–5 years after the diagnosis. Despite decades of intensive research, only a few therapeutic options exist, with a limited benefit on the disease progression. Preclinical animal models have been very useful to decipher some aspects of the mechanisms underlying ALS. However, discoveries made using transgenic animal models have failed to translate into clinically meaningful therapeutic strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need to find solutions to discover drugs that could impact on the course of the disease, with the ultimate goal to extend the life of patients and improve their quality of life. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), similarly to embryonic stem cells (ESCs), have the capacity to differentiate into all three embryonic germ layers, which offers the unprecedented opportunity to access patient-specific central nervous system cells in an inexhaustible manner. Human MNs generated from ALS patient iPSCs are an exciting tool for disease modelling and drug discovery projects, since they display ALS-specific phenotypes. Here, we attempted to review almost 2 decades of research in the field, first highlighting the steps required to efficiently generate MNs from human ESCs and iPSCs. Then, we address relevant ALS studies which employed human ESCs and iPSC-derived MNs that led to the identification of compounds currently being tested in clinical trials for ALS. Finally, we discuss the potential and caveats of using patient iPSC-derived MNs as a platform for drug screening, and anticipate ongoing and future challenges in ALS drug discovery.