技术资料

The fabrication of high-density polymer microarray is described,allowing the simultaneous and efficient evaluation of more than 7000 different polymers in a single-cellular-based screen. These high-density polymer arrays are applied in the search for synthetic substrates for hESCs culture. Up-scaling of the identified hit polymers enables long-term cellular cultivation and promoted successful stem-cell maintenance. View Publication

Fluoride is a ubiquitous natural substance that is often used in dental products to prevent dental caries. The biphasic actions of fluoride imply that excessive systemic exposure to fluoride can cause harmful effects on embryonic development in both animal models and humans. However,insufficient information is available on the effects of fluoride on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs),which is a novel in vitro humanized model for analyzing the embryotoxicities of chemical compounds. Therefore,we investigated the effects of sodium fluoride (NaF) on the proliferation,differentiation and viability of H9 hESCs. For the first time,we showed that 1 mM NaF did not significantly affect the proliferation of hESCs but did disturb the gene expression patterns of hESCs during embryoid body (EB) differentiation. Higher doses of NaF (2 mM and above) markedly decreased the viability and proliferation of hESCs. The mode and underlying mechanism of high-dose NaF-induced cell death were further investigated by assessing the sub-cellular morphology,mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP),caspase activities,cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). High-dose NaF caused the death of hESCs via apoptosis in a caspase-mediated but ROS-independent pathway,coupled with an increase in the phospho-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) levels. Pretreatment with a pJNK-specific inhibitor (SP600125) could effectively protect hESCs from NaF-induced cell death in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. These findings suggest that NaF might interfere with early human embryogenesis by disturbing the specification of the three germ layers as well as osteogenic lineage commitment and that high-dose NaF could cause apoptosis through a JNK-dependent pathway in hESCs. View Publication

Chemical compounds have emerged as powerful tools for modulating ESC functions and deriving induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),but documentation of compound-induced efficient directed differentiation in human ESCs (hESCs) and human iPSC (hiPSCs) is limited. By screening a collection of chemical compounds,we identified compound C (also denoted as dorsomorphin),a protein kinase inhibitor,as a potent regulator of hESC and hiPSC fate decisions. Compound C suppresses mesoderm,endoderm,and trophoectoderm differentiation and induces rapid and high-efficiency neural conversion in both hESCs and hiPSCs,88.7% and 70.4%,respectively. Interestingly,compound C is ineffective in inducing neural conversion in mouse ESCs (mESCs). Large-scale kinase assay revealed that compound C targets at least seven transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily receptors,including both type I and type II receptors,and thereby blocks both the Activin and bone morphogenesis protein (BMP) signaling pathways in hESCs. Dual inhibition of Activin and BMP signaling accounts for the effects of compound C on hESC differentiation and neural conversion. We also identified muscle segment homeobox gene 2 (MSX2) as a downstream target gene of compound C and a key signaling intermediate of the BMP pathway in hESCs. Our findings provide a single-step cost-effective method for efficient derivation of neural progenitor cells in adherent culture from human pluripotent stem cells. Therefore,it will be uniquely suitable for the production of neural progenitor cells in large scale and should facilitate the use of stem cells in drug screening and regenerative medicine and study of early human neural development. View Publication

Efficient derivation of large-scale motor neurons (MNs) from human pluripotent stem cells is central to the understanding of MN development,modelling of MN disorders in vitro and development of cell-replacement therapies. Here we develop a method for rapid (20 days) and highly efficient (˜70%) differentiation of mature and functional MNs from human pluripotent stem cells by tightly modulating neural patterning temporally at a previously undefined primitive neural progenitor stage. This method also allows high-yield (textgreater250%) MN production in chemically defined adherent cultures. Furthermore,we show that Islet-1 is essential for formation of mature and functional human MNs,but,unlike its mouse counterpart,does not regulate cell survival or suppress the V2a interneuron fate. Together,our discoveries improve the strategy for MN derivation,advance our understanding of human neural specification and MN development,and provide invaluable tools for human developmental studies,drug discovery and regenerative medicine. View Publication

The reprogramming of human somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells enables the possibility of generating patient-specific autologous cells for regenerative medicine. A number of human somatic cell types have been reported to generate hiPS cells,including fibroblasts,keratinocytes and peripheral blood cells,with variable reprogramming efficiencies and kinetics. Here,we show that human astrocytes can also be reprogrammed into hiPS (ASThiPS) cells,with similar efficiencies to keratinocytes,which are currently reported to have one of the highest somatic reprogramming efficiencies. ASThiPS lines were indistinguishable from human embryonic stem (ES) cells based on the expression of pluripotent markers and the ability to differentiate into the three embryonic germ layers in vitro by embryoid body generation and in vivo by teratoma formation after injection into immunodeficient mice. Our data demonstrates that a human differentiated neural cell type can be reprogrammed to pluripotency and is consistent with the universality of the somatic reprogramming procedure. View Publication

DNA repair plays a crucial role in embryonic and somatic stem cell biology and cell reprogramming. The Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway,which promotes error-free repair of DNA double-strand breaks,is required for somatic cell reprogramming to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Thus,cells from Fanconi anemia patients,which lack this critical pathway,fail to be reprogrammed to iPSC under standard conditions unless the defective FA gene is complemented. In this study,we utilized the oncogenes of high-risk human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) to overcome the resistance of FA patient cells to reprogramming. We found that E6,but not E7,recovers FA iPSC colony formation and,furthermore,that p53 inhibition is necessary and sufficient for this activity. The iPSC colonies resulting from each of these approaches stained positive for alkaline phosphatase,NANOG,and Tra-1-60,indicating that they were fully reprogrammed into pluripotent cells. However,FA iPSC were incapable of outgrowth into stable iPSC lines regardless of p53 suppression,whereas their FA-complemented counterparts grew efficiently. Thus,we conclude that the FA pathway is required for the growth of iPSC beyond reprogramming and that p53-independent mechanisms are involved. IMPORTANCE A novel approach is described whereby HPV oncogenes are used as tools to uncover DNA repair-related molecular mechanisms affecting somatic cell reprogramming. The findings indicate that p53-dependent mechanisms block FA cells from reprogramming but also uncover a previously unrecognized defect in FA iPSC proliferation independent of p53. View Publication

We report a method of high-speed phase contrast and bright field microscopy which permits large cell culture vessels to be scanned at much higher speed (up to 30 times faster) than when conventional methods are used without compromising image quality. The object under investigation moves continuously and is captured using a flash illumination which creates an exposure time short enough to prevent motion blur. During the scan the object always stays in focus due to a novel hardware-autofocus system. View Publication

Synthetic materials that promote the growth or differentiation of cells have advanced the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Most functional biomaterials are based on a handful of peptide sequences derived from protein ligands for cell surface receptors. Because few proteins possess short peptide sequences that alone can engage cell surface receptors,the repertoire of receptors that can be targeted with this approach is limited. Materials that bind diverse classes of receptors,however,may be needed to guide cell growth and differentiation. To provide access to such new materials,we utilized phage display to identify novel peptides that bind to the surface of pluripotent cells. Using human embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells as bait,approximately 3 x 10(4) potential cell-binding phage clones were isolated. The pool was narrowed using an enzyme-linked immunoassay: 370 clones were tested,and seven cell-binding peptides were identified. Of these,six sequences possess EC cell-binding ability. Specifically,when displayed by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols on gold,they mediate cell adhesion. The corresponding soluble peptides block this adhesion,indicating that the identified peptide sequences are specific. They also are functional. Synthetic surfaces displaying phage-derived peptides support growth of undifferentiated human embryonic stem (ES) cells. When these cells were cultured on SAMs presenting the sequence TVKHRPDALHPQ or LTTAPKLPKVTR in a chemically defined medium (mTeSR),they expressed markers of pluripotency at levels similar to those of cells cultured on Matrigel. Our results indicate that this screening strategy is a productive avenue for the generation of materials that control the growth and differentiation of cells. View Publication

Populations of cells create local environments that lead to emergent heterogeneity. This is particularly evident with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs): microenvironmental heterogeneity limits hPSC cell fate control. We developed a high-throughput platform to screen hPSCs in configurable microenvironments in which we optimized colony size,cell density and other parameters to achieve rapid and robust cell fate responses to exogenous cues. We used this platform to perform single-cell protein expression profiling,revealing that Oct4 and Sox2 costaining discriminates pluripotent,neuroectoderm,primitive streak and extraembryonic cell fates. We applied this Oct4-Sox2 code to analyze dose responses of 27 developmental factors to obtain lineage-specific concentration optima and to quantify cell line–specific endogenous signaling pathway activation and differentiation bias. We demonstrated that short-term responses predict definitive endoderm induction efficiency and can be used to rescue differentiation of cell lines reticent to cardiac induction. This platform will facilitate high-throughput hPSC-based screening and quantification of lineage-induction bias. View Publication

Multigene delivery and subsequent cellular expression is emerging as a key technology required in diverse research fields including,synthetic and structural biology,cellular reprogramming and functional pharmaceutical screening. Current viral delivery systems such as retro- and adenoviruses suffer from limited DNA cargo capacity,thus impeding unrestricted multigene expression. We developed MultiPrime,a modular,non-cytotoxic,non-integrating,baculovirus-based vector system expediting highly efficient transient multigene expression from a variety of promoters. MultiPrime viruses efficiently transduce a wide range of cell types,including non-dividing primary neurons and induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPS). We show that MultiPrime can be used for reprogramming,and for genome editing and engineering by CRISPR/Cas9. Moreover,we implemented dual-host-specific cassettes enabling multiprotein expression in insect and mammalian cells using a single reagent. Our experiments establish MultiPrime as a powerful and highly efficient tool,to deliver multiple genes for a wide range of applications in primary and established mammalian cells. View Publication

The RNA-guided nuclease Cas9 can be reengineered as a programmable transcription factor. However,modest levels of gene activation have limited potential applications. We describe an improved transcriptional regulator obtained through the rational design of a tripartite activator,VP64-p65-Rta (VPR),fused to nuclease-null Cas9. We demonstrate its utility in activating endogenous coding and noncoding genes,targeting several genes simultaneously and stimulating neuronal differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). View Publication

INTRODUCTION: Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability,but treatment options are severely limited. Cell therapy offers an attractive strategy for regenerating lost tissues and enhancing the endogenous healing process. In this study,we investigated the use of human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursors as a cell therapy in a murine stroke model.backslashnbackslashnMETHODS: Neural precursors were derived from human embryonic stem cells by using a fully adherent SMAD inhibition protocol employing small molecules. The efficiency of neural induction and the ability of these cells to further differentiate into neurons were assessed by using immunocytochemistry. Whole-cell patch-clamp recording was used to demonstrate the electrophysiological activity of human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons. Neural precursors were transplanted into the core and penumbra regions of a focal ischemic stroke in the barrel cortex of mice. Animals received injections of bromodeoxyuridine to track regeneration. Neural differentiation of the transplanted cells and regenerative markers were measured by using immunohistochemistry. The adhesive removal test was used to determine functional improvement after stroke and intervention.backslashnbackslashnRESULTS: After 11 days of neural induction by using the small-molecule protocol,over 95% of human embryonic stem-derived cells expressed at least one neural marker. Further in vitro differentiation yielded cells that stained for mature neuronal markers and exhibited high-amplitude,repetitive action potentials in response to depolarization. Neuronal differentiation also occurred after transplantation into the ischemic cortex. A greater level of bromodeoxyuridine co-localization with neurons was observed in the penumbra region of animals receiving cell transplantation. Transplantation also improved sensory recovery in transplant animals over that in control animals.backslashnbackslashnCONCLUSIONS: Human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursors derived by using a highly efficient small-molecule SMAD inhibition protocol can differentiate into electrophysiologically functional neurons in vitro. These cells also differentiate into neurons in vivo,enhance regenerative activities,and improve sensory recovery after ischemic stroke. View Publication