FAD influx enhances neuronal differentiation of human neural stem cells by facilitating nuclear localization of LSD1.

Flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), synthesized from riboflavin, is redox cofactor in energy production and plays an important role in cell survival. More recently, riboflavin deficiency has been linked to developmental disorders, but its role in stem cell differentiation remains unclear. Here, we show that FAD treatment, using DMSO as a solvent, enabled an increase in the amount of intracellular FAD and promoted neuronal differentiation of human neural stem cells (NSCs) derived not only from fetal brain, but also from induced pluripotent stem cells. Depression of FAD-dependent histone demethylase, lysine-specific demethylase-1 (LSD1), prevented FAD-induced neuronal differentiation. Furthermore, FAD influx facilitated nuclear localization of LSD1 and its enzymatic activity. Together, these findings led us to propose that FAD contributes to proper neuronal production from NSCs in the human fetal brain during development.