A high-throughput conditioned-media-based screening system identifies inhibitors of aggregation induced by iPSC-secreted amyloid β.
Masahiro Kuragano, Naoki Nishishita, Koki Araya, Akira Kobayashi, Taro Q P Noguchi, Kenichi Watanabe, Shinya Watanabe, Stefan Baar, Koji Uwai, Kiyotaka Tokuraku
Abstract
In early drug discovery, in vitro screening is frequently used, but selected candidates often fail in vivo. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based disease models offer improved physiological relevance; however, the high costs of media and differentiation procedures limit large-scale testing. Here, we develop a high-throughput conditioned-media-based screening system-the High-throughput screening technology for Aggregation Inhibitors of Diseased cell-derived Aggregative Proteins (HaiDap) system-to identify inhibitors of aggregation induced by iPSC-secreted amyloid β (Aβ). Using conditioned media derived from differentiated iPSCs of a male Alzheimer's disease patient, we screen extracts from 22 edible plants. Whereas PBS-based assays showed 40.9% (9/22) apparent selectivity, the HaiDap system demonstrates higher specificity (13.6%; 3/22). All three identified extracts (O. aristatus, S. aromaticum, and G. yesoense) significantly delay Aβ aggregation on neuronal surfaces in an iPSC-based assay. These findings suggest that the HaiDap system enables efficient, accurate, and low-cost screening of amyloid aggregation inhibitors.