技术资料

The ability to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into endothelial cells with properties of cord-blood endothelial colony-forming cells (CB-ECFCs) may enable the derivation of clinically relevant numbers of highly proliferative blood vessel-forming cells to restore endothelial function in patients with vascular disease. We describe a protocol to convert human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) or embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into cells similar to CB-ECFCs at an efficiency of textgreater10(8) ECFCs produced from each starting pluripotent stem cell. The CB-ECFC-like cells display a stable endothelial phenotype with high clonal proliferative potential and the capacity to form human vessels in mice and to repair the ischemic mouse retina and limb,and they lack teratoma formation potential. We identify Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1)-mediated activation of KDR signaling through VEGF165 as a critical mechanism for the emergence and maintenance of CB-ECFC-like cells. View Publication

Human mucosal tissues and skin contain two distinct types of dendritic cell (DC) subsets,epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) and dermal DCs,which can be distinguished by the expression of C-type lectin receptors,Langerin and DC-SIGN,respectively. Although peripheral blood monocytes differentiate into these distinct subsets,monocyte-derived LCs (moLCs) induced by coculture with GM-CSF,IL-4,and TGF-$\beta$1 coexpress both Langerin and DC-SIGN,suggesting that the environmental cues remain unclear. In this study,we show that LC differentiation is TGF-$\beta$1 dependent and that cofactors such as IL-4 and TNF-$\alpha$ promote TGF-$\beta$1-dependent LC differentiation into Langerin+DC-SIGN- moLCs but continuous exposure to IL-4 blocks differentiation. Steroids such as dexamethasone greatly enhanced TNF-$\alpha$-induced moLC differentiation and blocked DC-SIGN expression. Consistent with primary LCs,dexamethasone-treated moLCs express CD1a,whereas monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) express CD1b,CD1c,and CD1d. moDCs but not moLCs produced inflammatory cytokines after stimulation with CD1b and CD1d ligands mycolic acid and $\alpha$-galactosylceramide,respectively. Strikingly,CD1a triggering with squalene on moLCs but not moDCs induced strong IL-22-producing CD4+ helper T cell responses. As IL-22 is an important cytokine in the maintenance of skin homeostasis,these data suggest that CD1a on LCs is involved in maintaining the immune barrier in the skin. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are a valuable tool for investigating complex cellular and molecular events that occur in several human diseases. Importantly,the ability to differentiate hiPSCs into any human cell type provides a unique way for investigating disease mechanisms such as complex mental health diseases. The in vitro transformation of human lymphocytes into lymphoblasts (LCLs) using the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been the main method for generating immortalized human cell lines for half a century. However,the derivation of iPSCs from LCLs has emerged as an alternative source from which these cell lines can be generated. We show that iPSCs derived from LCLs using the Sendai virus procedure can be successfully differentiated into cardiomyocytes,neurons,and myotubes that express neuron- and myocyte-specific markers. We further show that these cardiac and neuronal cells are functional and generate action potentials that are required for cell excitability. We conclude that the ability to differentiate LCLs into neurons and myocytes will increase the use of LCLs in the future as a potential source of cells for modelling a number of diseases. View Publication

In this unit,we describe a simple coculture-free method for obtaining mast cells from mouse and human embryonic stem (ES) cells. Much of our knowledge regarding the mechanisms by which mast cells are activated comes from studies of mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells. Studies of human mast cells have been hampered by the limited sources from which they can be cultured,the difficulty in introducing specific genetic changes into these cells,and differences between established cultures that reflect the unique genetic makeup of the tissue donor. Derivation of mast cells from embryonic stem cells addresses these limitations. ES-derived mast cells can be generated in numbers sufficient for studies of the pathways involved in mast cell effector functions. These ES cell-derived mast cells respond to antigens and other stimuli by releasing histamine,cytokines,lipids,and other bioactive mediators. The derivation of human mast cells from ES cells carrying mutations introduced by homologous recombination should provide a novel means of testing the function of genes in both the development and the effector functions of mast cells. View Publication

There is increasing evidence to suggest that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are capable of differentiating into hepatocytes in vitro. In this study,we used a combination of cytokines and sodium butyrate in a novel three-step procedure to efficiently direct the differentiation of mouse ESCs into hepatocytes. Mouse ESCs were first differentiated into definitive endoderm cells by 3 days of treatment with Activin A. The definitive endoderm cells were then differentiated into hepatocytes by the addition of acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) and sodium butyrate to the culture medium for 5 days. After 10 days of further in vitro maturation,the morphological and phenotypic markers of hepatocytes were characterized using immunohistochemistry,immunoblotting,and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore,the cells were tested for functions associated with mature hepatocytes,including glycogen storage and indocyanine green uptake and release,and the ratio of hepatic differentiation was determined by counting the percentage of albumin-positive cells. In the presence of medium containing cytokines and sodium butyrate,numerous epithelial cells resembling hepatocytes were observed,and approximately 74% of the cells expressed the hepatic marker,albumin,after 18 days in culture. RT-PCR analysis and immunohistochemistry showed that these cells expressed adult liver cell markers,and had the abilities of glycogen storage and indocyanine green uptake and release. We have developed an efficient method for directing the differentiation of mouse ESCs into cells that exhibit the characteristics of mature hepatocytes. This technique will be useful for research into the molecular mechanisms underlying liver development,and could provide a source of hepatocytes for transplantation therapy and drug screening. View Publication

To investigate the role of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF beta) in bone metabolism,the effects of this agent on the differentiation characteristics of human bone cells were studied in vitro. Human bone cells were isolated from femoral head samples by collagenase digestion. Differentiation characteristics included alkaline phosphatase activity,osteocalcin production,and mRNA levels for alkaline phosphatase,type I alpha 2-procollagen,and osteocalcin. The effect of TGF beta on alkaline phosphatase was not constant,but varied with the incubation conditions. At high cell density and in the presence of serum,TGF beta decreased alkaline phosphatase activity. However,at low cell density and under serum-free conditions,TGF beta stimulated alkaline phosphatase activity. The addition of 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 also stimulated alkaline phosphatase. The combination of the two agents gave a greater increase in activity than the sum of the activities when the two agents were given alone. The percentage of cells that stain positively for alkaline phosphatase changed in parallel with the change in specific activity. The percentage of positive cells increased from 17% to 64%,while the specific activity increased from 22 to 169 mU/mg protein. To investigate the mechanism of this stimulation,mRNA levels were measured at 24 hours. Individually,TGF beta and 1,25(OH)2D3 increased message levels for alkaline phosphatase and type I procollagen,but the greatest effect was produced by the combination of the two factors. 1,25(OH)2D3 increased osteocalcin mRNA levels,but TGF beta markedly inhibited this stimulation. TGF beta also inhibited production of osteocalcin by the human bone cells. TGF beta appears to modulate differentiation of human bone cells in combination with 1,25(OH)2D3 and other factors. View Publication

Pluripotent embryonic stem (ES) cells have the potential to differentiate to all fetal and adult cell types and might represent a useful cell source for tissue engineering and repair. Here we show that differentiation of ES cells toward the osteoblast lineage can be enhanced by supplementing serum-containing media with ascorbic acid,beta-glycerophosphate,and/or dexamethasone/retinoic acid or by co-culture with fetal murine osteoblasts. ES cell differentiation into osteoblasts was characterized by the formation of discrete mineralized bone nodules that consisted of 50-100 cells within an extracellular matrix of collagen-1 and osteocalcin. Dexamethasone in combination with ascorbic acid and beta-glycerophosphate induced the greatest number of bone nodules and was dependent on time of stimulation with a sevenfold increase when added to ES cultures after,but not before,14 days. Co-culture with fetal osteoblasts also provided a potent stimulus for osteogenic differentiation inducing a fivefold increase in nodule number relative to ES cells cultured alone. These data demonstrate the application of a quantitative assay for the derivation of osteoblast lineage progenitors from pluripotent ES cells. This could be applied to obtain purified osteoblasts to analyze mechanisms of osteogenesis and for use of ES cells in skeletal tissue repair. View Publication

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from the autoimmune-mediated loss of pancreatic β-cells. Current insulin therapies offer symptomatic relief but fall short of providing a definitive cure. Islet cell transplantation,while promising,faces limitations related to donor scarcity,procedural complexities,and the necessity for long-term immunosuppression. Consequently,there is an urgent need for innovative strategies aimed at β-cell regeneration. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of T1D patients,hold great potential as a source of cells for therapeutic purposes. Therefore,the differentiation of T1D-iPSCs into functional pancreatic β-cells is a critical step toward effective β-cell replacement therapy. To assess the potential of patient-derived T1D-β-like cells (differentiated from T1D-iPSCs reprogrammed from T1D-PBMCs) for restoring β-cell function in T1D. T1D-iPSCs were reprogrammed from T1D-PBMCs using an episomal vector-based approach. Pluripotency was confirmed by flow cytometry (FCM),quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,genomic stability analysis,and teratoma formation assays. Differentiation into pancreatic β-cells was optimized using triiodothyronine (T3),vitamin C (Vc),and an adenovirus (M3C) encoding pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1,neurogenin 3 ( Ngn3 ),and MAF bZIP transcription factor A ( MafA ). Following characterization of β-cell features by immunofluorescence,quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,and flow cytometry,therapeutic efficacy was assessed through blood glucose monitoring after transplantation under the renal capsule of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. T1D-iPSCs were successfully generated from T1D-PBMCs. These cells exhibited the hallmark characteristics of pluripotent stem cells,including appropriate morphology,differentiation potential,genomic integrity,and expression of pluripotency-associated genes. Differentiation yielded insulin-positive (insulin + ) pancreatic β-like cells that,at the mRNA level,expressed key β-cell markers such as pancreatic duodenal homeobox-1,Ngn3,MafA,NeuroD,glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor,Nkx6.1,glucose transporter 2,and Kir6.2 . Notably,the T3 + Vc group displayed the lowest Ngn3 expression (1.31 ± 0.38 vs 1.96 ± 0.25 vs 2.51 ± 0.24,P < 0.01),while the M3C + T3 + Vc group exhibited the highest MafA expression (0.49 ± 0.11 vs 0.32 ± 0.06 vs 0.29 ± 0.08,P < 0.05). Both in vitro and in vivo assessments confirmed the insulin secretion ability of the generated β-like cells; however,they did not demonstrate appropriate modulation of insulin release in response to variations in extracellular glucose concentrations. T1D-iPSCs derived from T1D-PBMCs can be differentiated into insulin + β-like cells,albeit with functional immaturity. These cells represent a potential source of seed cells for β-cell replacement therapy in T1D. View Publication

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have been established as permanent lines of undifferentiated pluripotent cells from early mouse embryos. ES cells provide a unique system for the genetic manipulation and the creation of knockout strains of mice through gene targeting. By cultivation in vitro as 3D aggregates called embryoid bodies,ES cells can differentiate into derivatives of all 3 primary germ layers,including cardiomyocytes. Protocols for the in vitro differentiation of ES cells into cardiomyocytes representing all specialized cell types of the heart,such as atrial-like,ventricular-like,sinus nodal-like,and Purkinje-like cells,have been established. During differentiation,cardiac-specific genes as well as proteins,receptors,and ion channels are expressed in a developmental continuum,which closely recapitulates the developmental pattern of early cardiogenesis. Exploitation of ES cell-derived cardiomyocytes has facilitated the analysis of early cardiac development and has permitted in vitro gain-of-function" or "loss-of-function" genetic studies. Recently� View Publication

Somatic cell reprogramming may become a powerful approach to generate specific human cell types for cell-fate determination studies and potential transplantation therapies of neurological diseases. Here we report a reprogramming methodology with which human adipose stem cells (hADSCs) can be differentiated into neural cells. After being reprogrammed with polycistronic plasmid carrying defined factor OCT3/4,SOX2,KLF4 and c-MYC,and further treated with neural induce medium,the hADSCs switched to differentiate toward neural cell lineages. The generated cells had normal karyotypes and exogenous vector sequences were not inserted in the genomes. Therefore,this cell lineage conversion methodology bypasses the risk of mutation and gene instability,and provides a novel strategy to obtain patient-specific neural cells for basic research and therapeutic application. View Publication

We have devised a reproducible protocol by which human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) or inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are efficiently differentiated to functional spinal motor neurons. This protocol comprises four major steps. Pluripotent stem cells are induced to form neuroepithelial (NE) cells that form neural tube-like rosettes in the absence of morphogens in the first 2 weeks. The NE cells are then specified to OLIG2-expressing motoneuron progenitors in the presence of retinoic acid (RA) and sonic hedgehog (SHH) or purmorphamine in the next 2 weeks. These progenitor cells further generate post-mitotic,HB9-expressing motoneurons at the 5th week and mature to functional motor neurons thereafter. It typically takes 5 weeks to generate the post-mitotic motoneurons and 8-10 weeks for the production of functional mature motoneurons. In comparison with other methods,our protocol does not use feeder cells,has a minimum dependence on proteins (purmorphamine replacing SHH),has controllable adherent selection and is adaptable for scalable suspension culture. View Publication

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect. The limiting factor in tissue engineering repair strategies is an autologous source of functional cardiomyocytes. Amniotic fluid contains an ideal cell source for prenatal harvest and use in correction of congenital heart defects. This study aims to investigate the potential of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFSC) to undergo non-viral reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) followed by growth-factor-free differentiation into functional cardiomyocytes. AFSC from human second trimester amniotic fluid were transfected by non-viral vesicle fusion with modified mRNA of OCT4,KLF4,SOX2,LIN28,cMYC and nuclear GFP over 18 days,then differentiated using inhibitors of GSK3 followed 48 hours later by inhibition of WNT. AFSC-derived iPSC had high expression of OCT4,NANOG,TRA-1-60,and TRA-1-81 after 18 days of mRNA transfection and formed teratomas containing mesodermal,ectodermal,and endodermal germ layers in immunodeficient mice. By Day 30 of cardiomyocyte differentiation,cells contracted spontaneously,expressed connexin 43 and β-myosin heavy chain organized in sarcomeric banding patterns,expressed cardiac troponin T and β-myosin heavy chain,showed upregulation of NKX2.5,ISL-1 and cardiac troponin T with downregulation of POU5F1,and displayed calcium and voltage transients similar to those in developing cardiomyocytes. These results demonstrate that cells from human amniotic fluid can be differentiated through a pluripotent state into functional cardiomyocytes. View Publication