Single-cell profiling of an in vitro model of human interneuron development

GABAergic interneurons are essential for neural circuit function and their loss or dysfunction is implicated in human neuropsychiatric disease. In vitro methods for interneuron generation hold promise for studying human cellular and functional properties and ultimately therapeutic cell replacement. We describe here a protocol for generating cortical interneurons from hESCs and analyze the properties and maturation timecourse of cell types using single-cell RNAseq. We find that the cell types produced mimic in vivo temporal patterns of neuron and glial production, with immature progenitors and neurons observed early and mature cortical neurons and glial cell types produced late. By comparing the transcriptomes of immature interneurons to more mature neurons, we identified genes important for human interneuron differentiation. Many of these genes were previously implicated in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.