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The tentative clinical application of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs),such as human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells,is restricted by the possibility of xenogenic contamination resulting from the use of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) as a feeder layer. Therefore,we investigated hPSC cultures on biomaterials with different elasticities that were grafted with different nanosegments. We prepared dishes coated with polyvinylalcohol-co-itaconic acid hydrogels grafted with an oligopeptide derived from vitronectin (KGGPQVTRGDVFTMP) with elasticities ranging from 10.3 to 30.4 kPa storage moduli by controlling the crosslinking time. The hPSCs cultured on the stiffest substrates (30.4 kPa) tended to differentiate after five days of culture,whereas the hPSCs cultured on the optimal elastic substrates (25 kPa) maintained their pluripotency for over 20 passages under xeno-free conditions. These results indicate that cell culture matrices with optimal elasticity can maintain the pluripotency of hPSCs in culture. View Publication

AIM To generate human embryonic stem cell derived corneal endothelial cells (hESC-CECs) for transplantation in patients with corneal endothelial dystrophies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Feeder-free hESC-CECs were generated by a directed differentiation protocol. hESC-CECs were characterized by morphology,expression of corneal endothelial markers,and microarray analysis of gene expression. RESULTS hESC-CECs were nearly identical morphologically to primary human corneal endothelial cells,expressed Zona Occludens 1 (ZO-1) and Na+/K+ATPase$\$1 (ATPA1) on the apical surface in monolayer culture,and produced the key proteins of Descemet's membrane,Collagen VIII$\$1 and VIII$\$2 (COL8A1 and 8A2). Quantitative PCR analysis revealed expression of all corneal endothelial pump transcripts. hESC-CECs were 96% similar to primary human adult CECs by microarray analysis. CONCLUSION hESC-CECs are morphologically similar,express corneal endothelial cell markers and express a nearly identical complement of genes compared to human adult corneal endothelial cells. hESC-CECs may be a suitable alternative to donor-derived corneal endothelium. View Publication

Ionizing radiation (IR) is a known mutagen that is widely employed for medical diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. To study the extent of genetic variations in DNA caused by IR,we used IR-sensitive human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Four hESC cell lines,H1,H7,H9,and H14,were subjected to IR at 0.2 or 1 Gy dose and then maintained in culture for four days before being harvested for DNA isolation. Irradiation with 1 Gy dose resulted in significant cell death,ranging from 60% to 90% reduction in cell population. Since IR is often implicated as a risk for inducing cancer,a primer pool targeting genomic hotspot" regions that are frequently mutated in human cancer genes was used to generate libraries from irradiated and control samples. Using a semiconductor-based next-generation sequencing approach� View Publication

BACKGROUND Heterogeneity of endothelial cells (ECs) is a hallmark of the vascular system which may impact the development and management of vascular disorders. Despite the tremendous progress in differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) towards endothelial lineage,differentiation into arterial and venous endothelial phenotypes remains elusive. Additionally,current differentiation strategies are hampered by inefficiency,lack of reproducibility,and use of animal-derived products. METHODS To direct the differentiation of hESCs to endothelial subtypes,H1- and H9-hESCs were seeded on human plasma fibronectin and differentiated under chemically defined conditions by sequential modulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3),basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF),bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathways for 5 days. Following the initial differentiation,the endothelial progenitor cells (CD34(+)CD31(+) cells) were sorted and terminally differentiated under serum-free conditions to arterial and venous ECs. The transcriptome and secretome profiles of the two distinct populations of hESC-derived arterial and venous ECs were characterized. Furthermore,the safety and functionality of these cells upon in vivo transplantation were characterized. RESULTS Sequential modulation of hESCs with GSK-3 inhibitor,bFGF,BMP4 and VEGF resulted in stages reminiscent of primitive streak,early mesoderm/lateral plate mesoderm,and endothelial progenitors under feeder- and serum-free conditions. Furthermore,these endothelial progenitors demonstrated differentiation potential to almost pure populations of arterial and venous endothelial phenotypes under serum-free conditions. Specifically,the endothelial progenitors differentiated to venous ECs in the absence of VEGF,and to arterial phenotype under low concentrations of VEGF. Additionally,these hESC-derived arterial and venous ECs showed distinct molecular and functional profiles in vitro. Furthermore,these hESC-derived arterial and venous ECs were nontumorigenic and were functional in terms of forming perfused microvascular channels upon subcutaneous implantation in the mouse. CONCLUSIONS We report a simple,rapid,and efficient protocol for directed differentiation of hESCs into endothelial progenitor cells capable of differentiation to arterial and venous ECs under feeder-free and serum-free conditions. This could offer a human platform to study arterial-venous specification for various applications related to drug discovery,disease modeling and regenerative medicine in the future. View Publication

Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia are amongst the most common forms of dementia characterized by the formation and deposition of abnormal TAU in the brain. In order to develop a translational human TAU aggregation model suitable for screening,we transduced TAU harboring the pro-aggregating P301L mutation into control hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells followed by differentiation into cortical neurons. TAU aggregation and phosphorylation was quantified using AlphaLISA technology. Although no spontaneous aggregation was observed upon expressing TAU-P301L in neurons,seeding with preformed aggregates consisting of the TAU-microtubule binding repeat domain triggered robust TAU aggregation and hyperphosphorylation already after 2 weeks,without affecting general cell health. To validate our model,activity of two autophagy inducers was tested. Both rapamycin and trehalose significantly reduced TAU aggregation levels suggesting that iPSC-derived neurons allow for the generation of a biologically relevant human Tauopathy model,highly suitable to screen for compounds that modulate TAU aggregation. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have potential for personalized and regenerative medicine. While most of the methods using these cells have focused on deriving homogenous populations of specialized cells,there has been modest success in producing hiPSC-derived organotypic tissues or organoids. Here we present a novel approach for generating and then co-differentiating hiPSC-derived progenitors. With a genetically engineered pulse of GATA-binding protein 6 (GATA6) expression,we initiate rapid emergence of all three germ layers as a complex function of GATA6 expression levels and tissue context. Within 2 weeks we obtain a complex tissue that recapitulates early developmental processes and exhibits a liver bud-like phenotype,including haematopoietic and stromal cells as well as a neuronal niche. Collectively,our approach demonstrates derivation of complex tissues from hiPSCs using a single autologous hiPSCs as source and generates a range of stromal cells that co-develop with parenchymal cells to form tissues. View Publication

BACKGROUND: Many retinal degenerative diseases are caused by the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Autosomal dominant optic atrophy is the most common hereditary optic atrophy disease and is characterized by central vision loss and degeneration of RGCs. Currently,there is no effective treatment for this group of diseases. However,stem cell therapy holds great potential for replacing lost RGCs of patients. Compared with embryonic stem cells,induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be derived from adult somatic cells,and they are associated with fewer ethical concerns and are less prone to immune rejection. In addition,patient-derived iPSCs may provide us with a cellular model for studying the pathogenesis and potential therapeutic agents for optic atrophy.backslashnbackslashnMETHODS: In this study,iPSCs were obtained from patients carrying an OPA1 mutation (OPA1 (+/-) -iPSC) that were diagnosed with optic atrophy. These iPSCs were differentiated into putative RGCs,which were subsequently characterized by using RGC-specific expression markers BRN3a and ISLET-1.backslashnbackslashnRESULTS: Mutant OPA1 (+/-) -iPSCs exhibited significantly more apoptosis and were unable to efficiently differentiate into RGCs. However,with the addition of neural induction medium,Noggin,or estrogen,OPA1 (+/-) -iPSC differentiation into RGCs was promoted.backslashnbackslashnCONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that apoptosis mediated by OPA1 mutations plays an important role in the pathogenesis of optic atrophy,and both noggin and β-estrogen may represent potential therapeutic agents for OPA1-related optic atrophy. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cortical neurons potentially present a powerful new model to understand corticogenesis and neurological disease. Previous work has established that differentiation protocols can produce cortical neurons,but little has been done to characterize these at cellular resolution. In particular,it is unclear to what extent in vitro two-dimensional,relatively disordered culture conditions recapitulate the development of in vivo cortical layer identity. Single-cell multiplex reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to interrogate the expression of genes previously implicated in cortical layer or phenotypic identity in individual cells. Totally,93.6% of single cells derived from iPSCs expressed genes indicative of neuronal identity. High proportions of single neurons derived from iPSCs expressed glutamatergic receptors and synaptic genes. And,68.4% of iPSC-derived neurons expressing at least one layer marker could be assigned to a laminar identity using canonical cortical layer marker genes. We compared single-cell RNA-seq of our iPSC-derived neurons to available single-cell RNA-seq data from human fetal and adult brain and found that iPSC-derived cortical neurons closely resembled primary fetal brain cells. Unexpectedly,a subpopulation of iPSC-derived neurons co-expressed canonical fetal deep and upper cortical layer markers. However,this appeared to be concordant with data from primary cells. Our results therefore provide reassurance that iPSC-derived cortical neurons are highly similar to primary cortical neurons at the level of single cells but suggest that current layer markers,although effective,may not be able to disambiguate cortical layer identity in all cells. View Publication

X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder involving a progressive loss of striatal medium spiny neurons. The mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration are not known,in part because there have been few cellular models available for studying the disease. The XDP haplotype consists of multiple sequence variations in a region of the X chromosome containingTAF1,a large gene with at least 38 exons,and a multiple transcript system (MTS) composed of five unconventional exons. A previous study identified an XDP-specific insertion of a SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA)-type retrotransposon in intron 32 ofTAF1,as well as a neural-specific TAF1 isoform,N-TAF1,which showed decreased expression in post-mortem XDP brain compared with control tissue. Here,we generated XDP patient and control fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in order to further probe cellular defects associated with this disease. As initial validation of the model,we compared expression ofTAF1and MTS transcripts in XDP versus control fibroblasts and iPSC-derived neural stem cells (NSCs). Compared with control cells,XDP fibroblasts exhibited decreased expression ofTAF1transcript fragments derived from exons 32-36,a region spanning the SVA insertion site. N-TAF1,which incorporates an alternative exon (exon 34'),was not expressed in fibroblasts,but was detectable in iPSC-differentiated NSCs at levels that were ∼threefold lower in XDP cells than in controls. These results support the previous findings that N-TAF1 expression is impaired in XDP,but additionally indicate that this aberrant transcription might occur in neural cells at relatively early stages of development that precede neurodegeneration. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells offer a unique potential for understanding the molecular basis of disease and development. Here we have generated several human iPS cell lines,and we describe their pluripotent phenotype and ability to differentiate into erythroid cells,monocytes,and endothelial cells. More significantly,however,when these iPS cells were differentiated under conditions that promote lympho-hematopoiesis from human embryonic stem cells,we observed the formation of pre-B cells. These cells were CD45(+)CD19(+)CD10(+) and were positive for transcripts Pax5,IL7αR,λ-like,and VpreB receptor. Although they were negative for surface IgM and CD5 expression,iPS-derived CD45(+)CD19(+) cells also exhibited multiple genomic D-J(H) rearrangements,which supports a pre-B-cell identity. We therefore have been able to demonstrate,for the first time,that human iPS cells are able to undergo hematopoiesis that contributes to the B-cell lymphoid lineage. View Publication

BACKGROUND: RNAs can be physically classified into poly(A)+ or poly(A)- transcripts according to the presence or absence of a poly(A) tail at their 3' ends. Current deep sequencing approaches largely depend on the enrichment of transcripts with a poly(A) tail,and therefore offer little insight into the nature and expression of transcripts that lack poly(A) tails. RESULTS: We have used deep sequencing to explore the repertoire of both poly(A)+ and poly(A)- RNAs from HeLa cells and H9 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Using stringent criteria,we found that while the majority of transcripts are poly(A)+,a significant portion of transcripts are either poly(A)- or bimorphic,being found in both the poly(A)+ and poly(A)- populations. Further analyses revealed that many mRNAs may not contain classical long poly(A) tails and such messages are overrepresented in specific functional categories. In addition,we surprisingly found that a few excised introns accumulate in cells and thus constitute a new class of non-polyadenylated long non-coding RNAs. Finally,we have identified a specific subset of poly(A)- histone mRNAs,including two histone H1 variants,that are expressed in undifferentiated hESCs and are rapidly diminished upon differentiation; further,these same histone genes are induced upon reprogramming of fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells. CONCLUSIONS: We offer a rich source of data that allows a deeper exploration of the poly(A)- landscape of the eukaryotic transcriptome. The approach we present here also applies to the analysis of the poly(A)- transcriptomes of other organisms. View Publication

The developmental potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) holds great promise to provide a source of human hepatocytes for use in drug discovery,toxicology,hepatitis research,and extracorporeal bioartificial liver support. There are,however,limitations to induce fully functional hepatocytes on conventional two-dimensional (2D) static culture. It had been shown that dynamic three-dimensional (3D) perfusion culture is superior to induce maturation in fetal hepatocytes and prolong hepatic functions of primary adult hepatocytes. We investigated the potential of using a four-compartment 3D perfusion culture to induce hepatic differentiation in hESC. Undifferentiated hESC were inoculated into hollow fiber-based 3D perfusion bioreactors with integral oxygenation. Hepatic differentiation was induced with a multistep growth factor cocktail protocol. Parallel controls were operated under equal perfusion conditions without the growth factor supplementations to allow for spontaneous differentiation,as well as in conventional 2D static conditions using growth factors. Metabolism,hepatocyte-specific gene expression,protein expression,and hepatic function were evaluated after 20 days. Significantly upregulated hepatic gene expression was observed in the hepatic differentiation 3D culture group. Ammonia metabolism activity and albumin production was observed in the 3D directed differentiation culture. Drug-induced cytochrome P450 gene expression was increased with rifampicin induction. Using flow cytometry analysis the mature hepatocyte marker asialoglycoprotein receptor was found on up to 30% of the cells in the 3D system with directed hepatic differentiation. Histological and immunohistochemical analysis revealed structural formation of hepatic and biliary marker-positive cells. In contrast to 2D culture,the 3D perfusion culture induced more functional maturation in hESC-derived hepatic cells. 3D perfusion bioreactor technologies may be useful for further studies on generating hESC-derived hepatic cells. View Publication