To generate subject-specific tissue, we differentiated iPS cells derived from 7 human subjects, 4 of whom met criteria for current alcohol dependence, including alcohol tolerance, into neural cell cultures using an established protocol for the neural differentiation of hES cells (Figure 1A–F). After 10 weeks in neural differentiation medium, iPS-derived cell cultures contained beta-III tubulin and s100β positive cells (Figure 1E), indicating that human iPS cells were successfully differentiated into cultures containing neurons and glia. Further immunostaining revealed positive synapsin-1 staining (Figure 1F), suggesting that synaptic specializations were forming within iPS-derived neural cultures.
