Summary

One of the projects in our lab is also utilizing human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to investigate the functional properties of neural cells (neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes) in normal and diseased states. Currently we have generated induced hPSCs (iPSCs) from patients with genetic-based neurodevelopmental and autism spectrum disorders. We are conducting functional assays to determine whether the derived neural cells exhibit synaptic alterations and to discover the underlying mechanisms causing these effects.