Single cell RNA-sequencing of polyA tailed RNA from mutant SOD1 and isogenic control human motor neurons

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons (MN). We used single cell RNA-seq of degenerating human MN derived from ALS patients to understand molecular drivers of MN degeneration. Patient-derived iPSC bearing a point mutation in the SOD1 gene (SOD1 E100G) were differentiated into MN. MN derived from CRISPR-Cas9 corrected isogenic control iPSC (SOD1 E100E) were used as control. Survival analysis indicated that at 44 days of in vitro differentiation, ALS MN dislpayed survival deficits. At this point, cells were harvested for single cell transcriptomics using the Fluidigm C1 system.