A significant hurdle in MND drug discovery, particularly for conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is the lack of consistent, physiologically relevant cells that accurately represent human biology in vitro. This challenge is underpinned by two key factors: the limited translatability of animal models and the long, complex, and difficult-to-scale differentiation protocols used in traditional methods to generate human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived motor neurons.

This webinar will introduce how precision cell reprogramming, using opti-ox technology, enables the rapid and reproducible conversion of stem cells into functional, defined hiPSC-derived lower motor neurons (ioMotor Neurons). These cells rapidly mature and are consistent and scalable, supporting the in vitro modelling of motor neurons with the aim of resolving the limitations of current cell generation methods.

Here the speakers will present data on how ioMotor Neurons have been developed and characterised. They will also explore how these cells could power new cell-based assays and drug discovery workflows for MND.

Learning outcomes:

• Gain insights into the challenges in identifying and developing new therapeutics for ALS and MND.
• Understand how opti-ox powered ioMotor Neurons provide a defined and scalable solution for clump-free cell culture, making them easy to use in standard assays like patch clamp and cell imaging.
• See characterisation data on the defined lower motor neuron identity and functional electrophysiology data on the formation of neuronal networks in astrocyte co-cultures.

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