Human stem cell-derived ventral midbrain astrocytes exhibit a region-specific secretory profile

It was recently reported in the journal Brain, that human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived astrocytes display neuroinflammatory characteristics that correlate with their specific regional identities within the central nervous system (CNS) 1. By generating hiPSC-derived dorsal forebrain and ventral spinal cord astrocytes Clarke et al.1 demonstrated distinctive changes in protein secretion unique to each specific regional astrocyte population following inflammatory stimulation. These findings emphasize that, like neurons, the regional identity of astrocytes pre-determines their functional responses in the adult CNS, and crucially, that this emerging relationship between regional identity and functional idiosyncrasy also extends to the distinctive neuroinflammatory responses of astrocyte populations 1. Here, we present data that supports and extends these observations, establishing that hiPSC-derived ventral midbrain astrocytes also demonstrate unique changes in their secretome in response to inflammation.