技术资料

PURPOSE Nonexudative (dry) age-related macular degeneration (AMD),a leading cause of blindness in the elderly,is associated with the loss of retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells and the development of geographic atrophy,which are areas devoid of RPE cells and photoreceptors. One possible treatment option would be to stimulate RPE attachment and proliferation to replace dying/dysfunctional RPE and bring about wound repair. Clinical trials are underway testing injections of RPE cells derived from pluripotent stem cells to determine their safety and efficacy in treating AMD. However,the factors regulating RPE responses to AMD-associated lesions are not well understood. Here,we use cell culture to investigate the role of RhoA coiled coil kinases (ROCKs) in human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE) attachment,proliferation,and wound closure. METHODS H9 hESC were spontaneously differentiated into RPE cells. hESC-RPE cells were treated with a pan ROCK1/2 or a ROCK2 only inhibitor; attachment,and proliferation and cell size within an in vitro scratch assay were examined. RESULTS Pharmacological inhibition of ROCKs promoted hESC-RPE attachment and proliferation,and increased the rate of closure of in vitro wounds. ROCK inhibition decreased phosphorylation of cofilin and myosin light chain,suggesting that regulation of the cytoskeleton underlies the mechanism of action of ROCK inhibition. CONCLUSIONS ROCK inhibition promotes attachment,proliferation,and wound closure in H9 hESC-RPE cells. ROCK isoforms may have different roles in wound healing. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE Modulation of the ROCK-cytoskeletal axis has potential in stimulating wound repair in transplanted RPE cells and attachment in cellular therapies. View Publication

BACKGROUND Efficient slow freezing protocols within serum-free and feeder-free culture systems are crucial for the clinical application of human embryonic stem (hES) cells. Frequently,however,hES cells must be cryopreserved as clumps when using conventional slow freezing protocols,leading to lower survival rates during freeze-thaw and limiting their recovery and growth efficiency after thawing,as well as limiting downstream applications that require single cell suspensions. We describe a novel method to increase freeze-thaw survival and proliferation rate of single hES cells in serum-free and feeder-free culture conditions. METHODS hES cells maintained on Matrigel-coated dishes were dissociated into single cells with Accutase and slow freezing. After thawing at 37 degrees C,cells were cultured in mTeSR medium supplemented with 10 microM of Rho-associated kinase inhibitor Y-27632 for 1 day. RESULTS The use of Y-27632 and Accutase significantly increases the survival of single hES cells after thawing compared with a control group (P textless 0.01). Furthermore,by treatment of hES cell aggregates with EGTA to disrupt cell-cell interaction,we show that Y-27632 treatment does not directly affect hES cell apoptosis. Even in the presence of Y-27632,hES cells deficient in cell-cell interaction undergo apoptosis. Y-27632-treated freeze-thawed hES cells retain typical morphology,stable karyotype,expression of pluripotency markers and the potential to differentiate into derivatives of all three germ layers after long-term culture. CONCLUSIONS The method described here allows for cryopreservation of single hES cells in serum-free and feeder-free conditions and therefore we believe this method will be ideal for current and future hES cell applications that are targeted towards a therapeutic end-point. View Publication

We report a technology to form human embryoid bodies (hEBs) from singularized human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) without the use of the p160 rho-associated coiled-coil kinase inhibitor (ROCKi) or centrifugation (spin). hEB formation was tested under four conditions: +ROCKi/+spin,+ROCKi/-spin,-ROCKi/+spin,and -ROCKi/-spin. Cell suspensions of BG01V/hOG and H9 hESC lines were pipetted into non-adherent hydrogel substrates containing defined microwell arrays. hEBs of consistent size and spherical geometry can be formed in each of the four conditions,including the -ROCKi/-spin condition. The hEBs formed under the -ROCKi/-spin condition differentiated to develop the three embryonic germ layers and tissues derived from each of the germ layers. This simplified hEB production technique offers homogeneity in hEB size and shape to support synchronous differentiation,elimination of the ROCKi xeno-factor and rate-limiting centrifugation treatment,and low-cost scalability,which will directly support automated,large-scale production of hEBs and hESC-derived cells needed for clinical,research,or therapeutic applications. View Publication

Robust control of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hIPSC) differentiation is essential to realize its patient-tailored therapeutic potential. Here,we demonstrate a novel application of Y-27632,a small molecule Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor,to significantly influence the differentiation of hIPSCs in a lineage-specific manner. The application of Y-27632 to hIPSCs resulted in a decrease in actin bundling and disruption of colony formation in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Such changes in cell and colony morphology were associated with decreased expression of E-cadherin,a cell-cell junctional protein,proportional to the increased exposure to Y-27632. Interestingly,gene and protein expression of pluripotency markers such as NANOG and OCT4 were not downregulated by an exposure to Y-27632 up to 36h. Simultaneously,epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) transition markers were upregulated with an exposure to Y-27632. These EMT-like changes in the cells with longer exposure to Y-27632 resulted in a significant increase in the subsequent differentiation efficiency towards mesendodermal lineage. In contrast,an inhibitory effect was observed when cells were subjected to ectodermal differentiation after prolonged exposure to Y-27632. Collectively,these results present a novel method for priming hIPSCs to modulate their differentiation potential with a simple application of Y-27632. View Publication

Down's syndrome (DS),caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21,is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. Here we use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from DS patients to identify a role for astrocytes in DS pathogenesis. DS astroglia exhibit higher levels of reactive oxygen species and lower levels of synaptogenic molecules. Astrocyte-conditioned medium collected from DS astroglia causes toxicity to neurons,and fails to promote neuronal ion channel maturation and synapse formation. Transplantation studies show that DS astroglia do not promote neurogenesis of endogenous neural stem cells in vivo. We also observed abnormal gene expression profiles from DS astroglia. Finally,we show that the FDA-approved antibiotic drug,minocycline,partially corrects the pathological phenotypes of DS astroglia by specifically modulating the expression of S100B,GFAP,inducible nitric oxide synthase,and thrombospondins 1 and 2 in DS astroglia. Our studies shed light on the pathogenesis and possible treatment of DS by targeting astrocytes with a clinically available drug. View Publication

To search for genes that promote hematopoietic development from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),we overexpressed several known hematopoietic regulator genes in hESC/iPSC-derived CD34(+)CD43(-) endothelial cells (ECs) enriched in hemogenic endothelium (HE). Among the genes tested,only Sox17,a gene encoding a transcription factor of the SOX family,promoted cell growth and supported expansion of CD34(+)CD43(+)CD45(-/low) cells expressing the HE marker VE-cadherin. SOX17 was expressed at high levels in CD34(+)CD43(-) ECs compared with low levels in CD34(+)CD43(+)CD45(-) pre-hematopoietic progenitor cells (pre-HPCs) and CD34(+)CD43(+)CD45(+) HPCs. Sox17-overexpressing cells formed semiadherent cell aggregates and generated few hematopoietic progenies. However,they retained hemogenic potential and gave rise to hematopoietic progenies on inactivation of Sox17. Global gene-expression analyses revealed that the CD34(+)CD43(+)CD45(-/low) cells expanded on overexpression of Sox17 are HE-like cells developmentally placed between ECs and pre-HPCs. Sox17 overexpression also reprogrammed both pre-HPCs and HPCs into HE-like cells. Genome-wide mapping of Sox17-binding sites revealed that Sox17 activates the transcription of key regulator genes for vasculogenesis,hematopoiesis,and erythrocyte differentiation directly. Depletion of SOX17 in CD34(+)CD43(-) ECs severely compromised their hemogenic activity. These findings suggest that SOX17 plays a key role in priming hemogenic potential in ECs,thereby regulating hematopoietic development from hESCs/iPSCs. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold promise as a source of adult-derived,patient-specific pluripotent cells for use in cell-based regenerative therapies. However,current methods of cell culture are tedious and expensive,and the mechanisms underlying cell proliferation are not understood. In this study,we investigated expression and function of iPSC integrin extracellular matrix receptors to better understand the molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion,survival,and proliferation. We show that iPSC lines generated using Oct-3/4,Sox-2,Nanog,and Lin-28 express a repertoire of integrins similar to that of hESCs,with prominent expression of subunits alpha5,alpha6,alphav,beta1,and beta5. Integrin function was investigated in iPSCs cultured without feeder layers on Matrigel or vitronectin,in comparison to human embryonic stem cells. beta1 integrins were required for adhesion and proliferation on Matrigel,as shown by immunological blockade experiments. On vitronectin,the integrin alphavbeta5 was required for initial attachment,but inhibition of both alphavbeta5 and beta1 was required to significantly decrease iPSC proliferation. Furthermore,iPSCs cultured on vitronectin for 9 passages retained normal karyotype,pluripotency marker expression,and capacity to differentiate in vitro. These studies suggest that vitronectin,or derivatives thereof,might substitute for Matrigel in a more defined system for iPSC culture. View Publication

RTP801 expression is induced by cellular stress and has a pro-apoptotic function in non-proliferating differentiated cells such as neurons. In several neurodegenerative disorders,including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease,elevated levels of RTP801 have been observed,which suggests a role for RTP801 in neuronal death. Neuronal death is also a pathological hallmark in Huntington's disease (HD),an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene. Currently,the exact mechanisms underlying mutant huntingtin (mhtt)-induced toxicity are still unclear. Here,we investigated whether RTP801 is involved in (mhtt)-induced cell death. Ectopic exon-1 mhtt elevated RTP801 mRNA and protein levels in nerve growth factor (NGF)-differentiated PC12 cells and in rat primary cortical neurons. In neuronal PC12 cells,mhtt also contributed to RTP801 protein elevation by reducing its proteasomal degradation rate,in addition to promoting RTP801 gene expression. Interestingly,silencing RTP801 expression with short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) blocked mhtt-induced cell death in NGF-differentiated PC12 cells. However,RTP801 protein levels were not altered in the striatum of Hdh(Q7/Q111) and R6/1 mice,two HD models that display motor deficits but not neuronal death. Importantly,RTP801 protein levels were elevated in both neural telencephalic progenitors differentiated from HD patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells and in the putamen and cerebellum of human HD postmortem brains. Taken together,our results suggest that RTP801 is a novel downstream effector of mhtt-induced toxicity and that it may be relevant to the human disease. View Publication

Immature primary and stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes provide useful models for fundamental studies of heart development and cardiac disease,and offer potentialbackslashrbackslashnfor patient specific drug testing and differentiation protocols aimed at cardiac grafts. To assess their potential for augmenting heart function,and to gain insight into cardiac growth and disease,tissue engineers must quantify the contractile forces of these single cells. Currently,axial contractile forces of isolated adult heart cells can only be measuredbackslashrbackslashnby two-point methods such as carbon fiber techniques,which cannot be applied to neonatal and stem cell-derived heart cells because they are more difficult to handle and lack a persistent shape. Here we present a novel axial technique for measuring the contractile forces of isolated immature cardiomyocytes. We overcome cell manipulation and patterning challenges by using a thermoresponsive sacrificialbackslashrbackslashnsupport layer in conjunction with arrays of widely separated elastomeric microposts. Our approach has the potential to be high-throughput,is functionally analogous to current gold-standard axial force assays for adult heart cells,and prescribes elongated cell shapes without protein patterning. Finally,we calibrate these force posts withbackslashrbackslashnpiezoresistive cantilevers to dramatically reduce measurement error typical for soft polymer-based force assays. We report quantitative measurements of peak contractile forces up to 146 nN with post stiffness standard error (26 nN) far betterbackslashrbackslashnthan that based on geometry and stiffness estimates alone. The addition of sacrificial layers to future 2D and 3D cell culturebackslashrbackslashnplatforms will enable improved cell placement and the complex suspension of cells across 3D constructs. View Publication

Insights into the expression of pacemaker-speci�?c markers in human induced pluripotent stemcell (hiPSC)-derived cardiomyocyte subtypes can facilitate the enrichment and track differentia-tion and maturation of hiPSC-derived pacemaker-like cardiomyocytes. To date,no study hasdirectly assessed gene expression in each pacemaker-,atria-,and ventricular-like cardiomyocytesubtype derived from hiPSCs since currently the subtypes of these immature cardiomyocytescan only be identi�?ed by action potential pro�?les. Traditional acquisition of action potentialsusing patch-clamp recordings renders the cells unviable for subsequent analysis. We circum-vented these issues by acquiring the action potential pro�?le of a single cell optically followedby assessment of protein expression through immunostaining in that same cell. Our same-single-cell analysis for the �?rst time revealed expression of proposed pacemaker-speci�?cmarkers—hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-modulated (HCN)4 channel and Islet(Isl)1—at the protein level in all three hiPSC-derived cardiomyocyte subtypes. HCN4 expressionwas found to be higher in pacemaker-like hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes than atrial- andventricular-like subtypes but its downregulation over time in all subtypes diminished the differ-ences. Isl1 expression in pacemaker-like hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes was initially not statisti-cally different than the contractile subtypes but did become statistically higher than ventricular-like cells with time. Our observations suggest that although HCN4 and Isl1 are differentiallyexpressed in hiPSC-derived pacemaker-like relative to ventricular-like cardiomyocytes,thesemarkers alone are insuf�?cient in identifying hiPSC-derived pacemaker-like cardiomyocytes. View Publication