DNA methylation alterations in iPSC- and hESC-derived neurons: potential implications for neurological disease modeling

Background Genetic predisposition and epigenetic alterations are both considered to contribute to sporadic neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Since cell reprogramming and the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are themselves associated with major epigenetic remodeling, it remains unclear to what extent iPSC-derived neurons lend themselves to model epigenetic disease-associated changes. A key question to be addressed in this context is whether iPSC-derived neurons exhibit epigenetic signatures typically observed in neurons derived from non-reprogrammed human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).