Scientific Resources

Conventional methods for quantification of undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting and real-time PCR analysis have technical limitations in terms of their sensitivity and recyclability. Herein,we designed a real-time in situ label-free monitoring system on the basis of a specific electrochemical signature of human pluripotent stem cells in vitro. The intensity of the signal of hPSCs highly corresponded to the cell number and remained consistent in a mixed population with differentiated cells. The electrical charge used for monitoring did not markedly affect the proliferation rate or molecular characteristics of differentiated human aortic smooth muscle cells. After YM155 treatment to ablate undifferentiated hPSCs,their specific signal was significantly reduced. This suggests that detection of the specific electrochemical signature of hPSCs would be a valid approach to monitor potential contamination of undifferentiated hPSCs,which can assess the risk of teratoma formation efficiently and economically. View Publication

UNLABELLED Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer which is often enriched with cancer stem cells (CSC),but the underlying molecular basis for this connection remains elusive. We hypothesized that BLBC cells are able to establish a niche permissive to the maintenance of CSCs and found that tumor cell-derived periostin (POSTN),a component of the extracellular matrix,as well as a corresponding cognate receptor,integrin $$(v)$$(3),are highly expressed in a subset of BLBC cell lines as well as in CSC-enriched populations. Furthermore,we demonstrated that an intact periostin-integrin $$3 signaling axis is required for the maintenance of breast CSCs. POSTN activates the ERK signaling pathway and regulates NF-$$B-mediated transcription of key cytokines,namely IL6 and IL8,which in turn control downstream activation of STAT3. In summary,these findings suggest that BLBC cells have an innate ability to establish a microenvironmental niche supportive of CSCs. IMPLICATIONS The findings reported here indicate that POSTN produced by CSCs acts to reinforce the stem cell state through the activation of integrin receptors and the production of key cytokines. View Publication

The transcription factor REST is a key suppressor of neuronal genes in non-neuronal tissues. REST has been shown to suppress proneuronal microRNAs in neural progenitors indicating that REST-mediated neurogenic suppression may act in part via microRNAs. We used neural differentiation of Rest-null mouse ESC to identify dozens of microRNAs regulated by REST during neural development. One of the identified microRNAs,miR-375,was upregulated during human spinal motor neuron development. We found that miR-375 facilitates spinal motor neurogenesis by targeting the cyclin kinase CCND2 and the transcription factor PAX6. Additionally,miR-375 inhibits the tumor suppressor p53 and protects neurons from apoptosis in response to DNA damage. Interestingly,motor neurons derived from a spinal muscular atrophy patient displayed depressed miR-375 expression and elevated p53 protein levels. Importantly,SMA motor neurons were significantly more susceptible to DNA damage induced apoptosis suggesting that miR-375 may play a protective role in motor neurons. View Publication

Human-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived kidney cells (hPSC-KCs) have important potential for disease modelling and regeneration. Whether the hPSC-KCs can reconstitute tissue-specific phenotypes is currently unknown. Here we show that hPSC-KCs self-organize into kidney organoids that functionally recapitulate tissue-specific epithelial physiology,including disease phenotypes after genome editing. In three-dimensional cultures,epiblast-stage hPSCs form spheroids surrounding hollow,amniotic-like cavities. GSK3β inhibition differentiates spheroids into segmented,nephron-like kidney organoids containing cell populations with characteristics of proximal tubules,podocytes and endothelium. Tubules accumulate dextran and methotrexate transport cargoes,and express kidney injury molecule-1 after nephrotoxic chemical injury. CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of podocalyxin causes junctional organization defects in podocyte-like cells. Knockout of the polycystic kidney disease genes PKD1 or PKD2 induces cyst formation from kidney tubules. All of these functional phenotypes are distinct from effects in epiblast spheroids,indicating that they are tissue specific. Our findings establish a reproducible,versatile three-dimensional framework for human epithelial disease modelling and regenerative medicine applications. View Publication

Immunotherapy treatments for cancer are becoming increasingly successful,however to further improve our understanding of the T-cell recognition involved in effective responses and to encourage moves towards the development of personalised treatments for leukaemia immunotherapy,precise antigenic targets in individual patients have been identified. Cellular arrays using peptide-MHC (pMHC) tetramers allow the simultaneous detection of different antigen specific T-cell populations naturally circulating in patients and normal donors. We have developed the pMHC array to detect CD8+ T-cell populations in leukaemia patients that recognise epitopes within viral antigens (cytomegalovirus (CMV) and influenza (Flu)) and leukaemia antigens (including Per Arnt Sim domain 1 (PASD1),MelanA,Wilms' Tumour (WT1) and tyrosinase). We show that the pMHC array is at least as sensitive as flow cytometry and has the potential to rapidly identify more than 40 specific T-cell populations in a small sample of T-cells (0.8-1.4 x 10(6)). Fourteen of the twenty-six acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients analysed had T cells that recognised tumour antigen epitopes,and eight of these recognised PASD1 epitopes. Other tumour epitopes recognised were MelanA (n = 3),tyrosinase (n = 3) and WT1(126-134) (n = 1). One of the seven acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) patients analysed had T cells that recognised the MUC1(950-958) epitope. In the future the pMHC array may be used provide point of care T-cell analyses,predict patient response to conventional therapy and direct personalised immunotherapy for patients. View Publication

BACKGROUND Disruptive mutation in the CHD8 gene is one of the top genetic risk factors in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Previous analyses of genome-wide CHD8 occupancy and reduced expression of CHD8 by shRNA knockdown in committed neural cells showed that CHD8 regulates multiple cell processes critical for neural functions,and its targets are enriched with ASD-associated genes. METHODS To further understand the molecular links between CHD8 functions and ASD,we have applied the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to knockout one copy of CHD8 in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to better mimic the loss-of-function status that would exist in the developing human embryo prior to neuronal differentiation. We then carried out transcriptomic and bioinformatic analyses of neural progenitors and neurons derived from the CHD8 mutant iPSCs. RESULTS Transcriptome profiling revealed that CHD8 hemizygosity (CHD8 (+/-)) affected the expression of several thousands of genes in neural progenitors and early differentiating neurons. The differentially expressed genes were enriched for functions of neural development,$$-catenin/Wnt signaling,extracellular matrix,and skeletal system development. They also exhibited significant overlap with genes previously associated with autism and schizophrenia,as well as the downstream transcriptional targets of multiple genes implicated in autism. Providing important insight into how CHD8 mutations might give rise to macrocephaly,we found that seven of the twelve genes associated with human brain volume or head size by genome-wide association studies (e.g.,HGMA2) were dysregulated in CHD8 (+/-) neural progenitors or neurons. CONCLUSIONS We have established a renewable source of CHD8 (+/-) iPSC lines that would be valuable for investigating the molecular and cellular functions of CHD8. Transcriptomic profiling showed that CHD8 regulates multiple genes implicated in ASD pathogenesis and genes associated with brain volume. View Publication

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are predicted to be an unlimited source of hepatocytes which can pave the way for applications such as cell replacement therapies or as a model of human development or even to predict the hepatotoxicity of drug compounds. We have optimized a 23-d differentiation protocol to generate hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) from hESCs,obtaining a relatively pure population which expresses the major hepatic markers and is functional and mature. The stability of the HLCs in terms of hepato-specific marker expression and functionality was found to be intact even after an extended period of in vitro culture and cryopreservation. The hESC-derived HLCs have shown the capability to display sensitivity and an alteration in the level of CYP enzyme upon drug induction. This illustrates the potential of such assays in predicting the hepatotoxicity of a drug compound leading to advancement of pharmacology View Publication

WNT/$\$-CATENIN signaling promotes the hematopoietic/endothelial differentiation of human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The transient addition of a GSK3$\$ (GSKi) has been found to facilitate in vitro endothelial cell differentiation from hESCs/hiPSCs. Because hematopoietic and endothelial cells are derived from common progenitors (hemogenic endothelial progenitors [HEPs]),we examined the effect of transient GSKi treatment on hematopoietic cell differentiation from hiPSCs. We found that transient GSKi treatment at the start of hiPSC differentiation induction altered the gene expression profile of the cells. Multiple CDX/HOX genes,which are expressed in the posterior mesoderm of developing embryos,were significantly upregulated by GSKi treatment. Further,inclusion of the GSKi in a serum- and stroma-free culture with chemically defined medium efficiently induced HEPs,and the HEPs gave rise to various lineages of hematopoietic and endothelial cells. Therefore,transient WNT/$\$-CATENIN signaling triggers activation of the CDX/HOX pathway,which in turn confers hemogenic posterior mesoderm identity to differentiating hiPSCs. These data enhance our understanding of human embryonic hematopoietic/endothelial cell development and provide a novel in vitro system for inducing the differentiation of hematopoietic cells from hiPSCs. View Publication

Primary dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a non-ischemic heart disease with impaired pumping function of the heart. In this study,we used human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) from a healthy volunteer and a primary DCM patient to investigate the impact of DCM on iPSC-CMs' responses to different types of anisotropic strain. A bioreactor system was established that generates cardiac-mimetic forces of 150 kPa at 5% anisotropic cyclic strain and 1. Hz frequency. After confirming cardiac induction of the iPSCs,it was determined that fibronectin was favorable to other extracellular matrix protein coatings (gelatin,laminin,vitronectin) in terms of viable cell area and density,and was therefore selected as the coating for further study. When iPSC-CMs were exposed to three strain conditions (no strain,5% static strain,and 5% cyclic strain),the static strain elicited significant induction of sarcomere components in comparison to other strain conditions. However,this induction occurred only in iPSC-CMs from a healthy volunteer (control iPSC-CMs")� View Publication

The lectin galectin-9 may help establish and maintain chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Galectin-9 is elevated in the liver and sera of hepatitis C virus patients,induces apoptosis of hepatitis C virus-specific T cells,and increases inhibitory regulatory T cells. Kupffer cells stain strongly for galectin-9 protein in hepatitis C virus patients. In the current study,we determined stimuli that induce galectin-9 production by monocytes and macrophages in hepatitis C virus infection. With the use of real-time PCR and flow cytometry,we analyzed galectin-9 mRNA and protein from human monocytes cocultured with hepatitis C virus-infected cells or noninfectious hepatitis C virus subgenomic replicon cells. We focused on finding the stimuli for galectin-9 production. Additionally,we measured galectin-9 during monocyte-to-macrophage maturation. Finally,we examined galectin-9 in peripheral monocytes from hepatitis C virus patients using flow cytometry. Galectin-9 mRNA increased 8-fold when primary monocytes were exposed to hepatitis C virus--infected cells. Maximum induction required proximity or contact and did not require IFN-γ or hepatitis C virus virions. Coculture of monocytes with subgenomic replicon cells increased galectin-9 5-fold,and purified exosomes from infected cells stimulated galectin-9 production. Stimulation of monocyte TLR3,-7,and -8 increased galectin-9 production. Differentiation of monocytes to macrophages increased galectin-9,and nonclassic monocytes from hepatitis C virus patients had the highest levels of galectin-9. Hepatitis C virus-infected cells stimulated monocytes to produce galectin-9 in close proximity,possibly,in part,as a result of exosomes and endosomal TLRs. Differentiation of monocytes to macrophages increased galectin-9. Nonclassic monocytes from hepatitis C virus patients express the highest galectin-9 levels,suggesting they may contribute to elevated galectin-9 and adaptive immune inhibition in hepatitis C virus infection. View Publication

The present study describes and compares functional properties of Nuli-1 cells and primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNEC) including TLR expression and function. Differences in gene expression were identified for non-TLR genes that play a role in TLR response pathways. However,experiments comparing TLR gene expression for both Nuli-1 cells and HNECs indicated conserved expression in both cell types. Stimulation of the two cell types resulted in a conserved response to TLR3 agonists,but in differences in response to agonists for TLR5 and TLR6/2. HNECs were much more susceptible to infection with Staphylococcus aureus than NuLi-1 cells. Furthermore,when cultured at air-liquid interface (ALI),NuLi-1 cells possessed much lower trans-epithelial resistance than primary HNEC and did not exhibit maintenance of cell morphology or mucous production which was observed in HNECs. Nor did they produce the characteristic interconnecting pattern of tight junction complexes at the apicolateral margin of adjacent cells. Caution should therefore be exercised when selecting cell lines for immunological studies and a thorough screen of properties relevant to the study should always be carried out prior to commencement. View Publication

Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) is employed widely as an experimental vaccine vector for its lack of replication in mammalian cells and high expression level of foreign/heterologous genes. Recombinant MVAs (rMVAs) are used as platforms for protein production as well as vectors to generate vaccines against a high number of infectious diseases and other pathologies. The portrait of the virus combines desirable elements such as high-level biological safety,the ability to activate appropriate innate immune mediators upon vaccination,and the capacity to deliver substantial amounts of heterologous antigens. Recombinant MVAs encoding proteins of bluetongue virus (BTV),an Orbivirus that infects domestic and wild ruminants transmitted by biting midges of the Culicoides species,are excellent vaccine candidates against this virus. In this chapter we describe the methods for the generation of rMVAs encoding VP2,NS1,and VP7 proteins of bluetongue virus as a model example for orbiviruses. The protocols included cover the cloning of VP2,NS1,and VP7 BTV-4 genes in a transfer plasmid,the construction of recombinant MVAs,the titration of virus working stocks and the protein expression analysis by immunofluorescence and radiolabeling of rMVA infected cells as well as virus purification. View Publication