Product Information

Insertion of a transgene into a defined genomic locus in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is crucial in preventing random integration-induced insertional mutagenesis,and can possibly enable persistent transgene expression during hESC expansion and in their differentiated progenies. Here,we employed homologous recombination in hESCs to introduce heterospecific loxP sites into the AAVS1 locus,a site with an open chromatin structure that allows averting transgene silencing phenomena. We then performed Cre recombinase mediated cassette exchange using baculoviral vectors to insert a transgene into the modified AAVS1 locus. Targeting efficiency in the master hESC line with the loxP-docking sites was up to 100%. Expression of the inserted transgene lasted for at least 20 passages during hESC expansion and was retained in differentiated cells derived from the genetically modified hESCs. Thus,this study demonstrates the feasibility of genetic manipulation at the AAVS1 locus with homologous recombination and using viral transduction in hESCs to facilitate recombinase-mediated cassette exchange. The method developed will be useful for repeated gene targeting at a defined locus of the hESC genome. View Publication

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable neuromuscular disease that leads to a profound loss of life quality and premature death. Around 10% of the cases are inherited and ALS8 is an autosomal dominant form of familial ALS caused by mutations in the vamp-associated protein B/C (VAPB) gene. The VAPB protein is involved in many cellular processes and it likely contributes to the pathogenesis of other forms of ALS besides ALS8. A number of successful drug tests in ALS animal models could not be translated to humans underscoring the need for novel approaches. The induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) technology brings new hope,since it can be used to model and investigate diseases in vitro. Here we present an additional tool to study ALS based on ALS8-iPSC. Fibroblasts from ALS8 patients and their non-carrier siblings were successfully reprogrammed to a pluripotent state and differentiated into motor neurons. We show for the first time that VAPB protein levels are reduced in ALS8-derived motor neurons but,in contrast to over-expression systems,cytoplasmic aggregates could not be identified. Our results suggest that optimal levels of VAPB may play a central role in the pathogenesis of ALS8,in agreement with the observed reduction of VAPB in sporadic ALS. View Publication

By providing access to affected neurons,human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSc) offer a unique opportunity to model human neurodegenerative diseases. We generated human iPSc from the skin fibroblasts of children with mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB. In this fatal lysosomal storage disease,defective α-N-acetylglucosaminidase interrupts the degradation of heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans and induces cell disorders predominating in the central nervous system,causing relentless progression toward severe mental retardation. Partially digested proteoglycans,which affect fibroblast growth factor signaling,accumulated in patient cells. They impaired isolation of emerging iPSc unless exogenous supply of the missing enzyme cleared storage and restored cell proliferation. After several passages,patient iPSc starved of an exogenous enzyme continued to proliferate in the presence of fibroblast growth factor despite HS accumulation. Survival and neural differentiation of patient iPSc were comparable with unaffected controls. Whereas cell pathology was modest in floating neurosphere cultures,undifferentiated patient iPSc and their neuronal progeny expressed cell disorders consisting of storage vesicles and severe disorganization of Golgi ribbons associated with modified expression of the Golgi matrix protein GM130. Gene expression profiling in neural stem cells pointed to alterations of extracellular matrix constituents and cell-matrix interactions,whereas genes associated with lysosome or Golgi apparatus functions were downregulated. Taken together,these results suggest defective responses of patient undifferentiated stem cells and neurons to environmental cues,which possibly affect Golgi organization,cell migration and neuritogenesis. This could have potential consequences on post-natal neurological development,once HS proteoglycan accumulation becomes prominent in the affected child brain. View Publication

A practical synthesis of the Rho-Kinase inhibitor Y-27632 and two new fluoro derivatives was achieved in seven steps and with a good overall yield of 45% starting from commercially available (R)-1-phenylethylamine. Compared to Y-27632 the new fluoro derivatives showed reduced or no effect on hPSC vitality and expansion after dissociation in human pluripotent stem cells. View Publication

BACKGROUND Cell-based therapy shows promise in treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD); however,the optimal cell type and long-term efficacy are unknown. In this study,we identified a novel subpopulation of adult progenitor cells positive for CD34 and M-cadherin (CD34/M-cad BMCs) in mouse and human bone marrow. We also examined the long-lasting therapeutic efficacy of mouse CD34/M-cad BMCs in restoring blood flow and promoting vascularization in an atherosclerotic mouse model of PAD. METHODS AND FINDINGS Colony-forming cell assays and flow cytometry analysis showed that CD34/M-cad BMCs have hematopoietic progenitor properties. When delivered intra-arterially into the ischemic hindlimbs of ApoE/ mice,CD34/M-cad BMCs alleviated ischemia and significantly improved blood flow compared with CD34/M-cad BMCs,CD34/M-cad BMCs,or unselected BMCs. Significantly more arterioles were seen in CD34/M-cad cell-treated limbs than in any other treatment group 60 days after cell therapy. Furthermore,histologic assessment and morphometric analyses of hindlimbs treated with GFP CD34/M-cad cells showed that injected cells incorporated into solid tissue structures at 21 days. Confocal microscopic examination of GFP CD34/M-cad cell-treated ischemic legs followed by immunostaining indicated the vascular differentiation of CD34/M-cad progenitor cells. A cytokine antibody array revealed that CD34/M-cad cell-conditioned medium contained higher levels of cytokines in a unique pattern,including bFGF,CRG-2,EGF,Flt-3 ligand,IGF-1,SDF-1,and VEGFR-3,than did CD34/M-cad cell-conditioned medium. The proangiogenic cytokines secreted by CD34/M-cad cells induced oxygen- and nutrient-depleted endothelial cell sprouting significantly better than CD34/M-cad cells during hypoxia. CONCLUSION CD34/M-cad BMCs represent a new progenitor cell type that effectively alleviates hindlimb ischemia in ApoE/ mice by consistently improving blood flow and promoting arteriogenesis. Additionally,CD34/M-cad BMCs contribute to microvascular remodeling by differentiating into vascular cells and releasing proangiogenic cytokines and growth factors. View Publication

The mitochondrial contribution to the maintenance of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) pluripotency and culture homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here,we sought to determine whether hESC adaptation to different feeder-free culture conditions is linked to a mitochondrial adaptation. The expression of ESC pluripotency factors and parameters of mitochondrial contribution including mitochondrial membrane potential,mtDNA content,and the expression of master mitochondrial genes implicated in replication,transcription,and biogenesis were determined in 8 hESC lines maintained in 2 distinct human feeders-conditioned media (CM): human foreskin fibroblast-CM (HFF-CM) and mesenchymal stem cell-CM (MSC-CM). We show a robust parallel trend between the expression of ESC pluripotency factors and the mitochondrial contribution depending on the culture conditions employed to maintain the hESCs,with those in MSC-CM consistently displaying increased levels of pluripotency markers associated to an enhanced mitochondrial contribution. The differences in the mitochondrial status between hESCs maintained in MSC-CM versus HFF-CM respond to coordinated changes in mitochondrial gene expression and biogenesis. Importantly,the culture conditions determine the mitochondrial distribution within the stage-specific embryonic antigen 3 positive (SSEA3(+)) and negative (SSEA3(-)) isolated cell subsets. hESC colonies in MSC-CM display an intrinsic" high mitochondrial status which may suffice to support undifferentiated growth� View Publication

SHP2,a cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine phosphatase encoded by the PTPN11 gene,plays a critical role in developmental hematopoiesis in the mouse,and gain-of-function mutations of SHP2 are associated with hematopoietic malignancies. However,the role of SHP2 in adult hematopoiesis has not been addressed in previous studies. In addition,the role of SHP2 in human hematopoiesis has not been described. These questions are of considerable importance given the interest in development of SHP2 inhibitors for cancer treatment. We used shRNA-mediated inhibition of SHP2 expression to investigate the function of SHP2 in growth factor (GF) signaling in normal human CD34(+) cells. SHP2 knockdown resulted in markedly reduced proliferation and survival of cells cultured with GF,and reduced colony-forming cell growth. Cells expressing gain-of-function SHP2 mutations demonstrated increased dependency on SHP2 expression for survival compared with cells expressing wild-type SHP2. SHP2 knockdown was associated with significantly reduced myeloid and erythroid differentiation with retention of CD34(+) progenitors with enhanced proliferative capacity. Inhibition of SHP2 expression initially enhanced and later inhibited STAT5 phosphorylation and reduced expression of the antiapoptotic genes MCL1 and BCLXL. These results indicate an important role for SHP2 in STAT5 activation and GF-mediated proliferation,survival,and differentiation of human progenitor cells. View Publication

The mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) proto-oncogenic protein is a histone-lysine N-methyltransferase that is produced by proteolytic cleavage and self-association of the respective functionally distinct subunits (MLL(N) and MLL(C)) to form a holocomplex involved in epigenetic transcriptional regulation. On the basis of studies in Drosophila it has been suggested that the separated subunits might also have distinct functions. In this study,we used a genetically engineered mouse line that lacked MLL(C) to show that the MLL(N)-MLL(C) holocomplex is responsible for MLL functions in various developmental processes. The stability of MLL(N) is dependent on its intramolecular interaction with MLL(C),which is mediated through the first and fourth plant homeodomain (PHD) fingers (PHD1 and PHD4) and the phenylalanine/tyrosine-rich (FYRN) domain of MLL(N). Free MLL(N) is destroyed by a mechanism that targets the FYRN domain,whereas free MLL(C) is exported to the cytoplasm and degraded by the proteasome. PHD1 is encoded by an alternatively spliced exon that is occasionally deleted in T-cell leukemia,and its absence produces an MLL mutant protein that is deficient for holocomplex formation. Therefore,this should be a loss-of-function mutant allele,suggesting that the known tumor suppression role of MLL may also apply to the T-cell lineage. Our data demonstrate that the dissociated MLL subunits are subjected to distinct degradation pathways and thus not likely to have separate functions unless the degradation mechanisms are inhibited. View Publication

Oligomerization is an important regulatory mechanism for many proteins,including oncoproteins and other pathogenic proteins. The oncoprotein Bcr-Abl relies on oligomerization via its coiled coil domain for its kinase activity,suggesting that a designed coiled coil domain with enhanced binding to Bcr-Abl and reduced self-oligomerization would be therapeutically useful. Key mutations in the coiled coil domain of Bcr-Abl were identified that reduce homo-oligomerization through intermolecular charge-charge repulsion yet increase interaction with the Bcr-Abl coiled coil through additional salt bridges,resulting in an enhanced ability to disrupt the oligomeric state of Bcr-Abl. The mutations were modeled computationally to optimize the design. Assays performed in vitro confirmed the validity and functionality of the optimal mutations,which were found to exhibit reduced homo-oligomerization and increased binding to the Bcr-Abl coiled coil domain. Introduction of the mutant coiled coil into K562 cells resulted in decreased phosphorylation of Bcr-Abl,reduced cell proliferation,and increased caspase-3/7 activity and DNA segmentation. Importantly,the mutant coiled coil domain was more efficacious than the wild type in all experiments performed. The improved inhibition of Bcr-Abl through oligomeric disruption resulting from this modified coiled coil domain represents a viable alternative to small molecule inhibitors for therapeutic intervention. View Publication

It is known that umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a rich source of stem cells with practical and ethical advantages. Three important types of stem cells which can be harvested from umbilical cord blood and used in disease treatment are hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs),mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Since these stem cells have shown enormous potential in regenerative medicine,numerous umbilical cord blood banks have been established. In this study,we examined the ability of banked UCB collected to produce three types of stem cells from the same samples with characteristics of HSCs,MSCs and EPCs. We were able to obtain homogeneous plastic rapidly-adherent cells (with characteristics of MSCs),slowly-adherent (with characteristics of EPCs) and non-adherent cells (with characteristics of HSCs) from the mononuclear cell fractions of cryopreserved UCB. Using a protocol of 48 h supernatant transferring,we successfully isolated MSCs which expressed CD13,CD44 and CD90 while CD34,CD45 and CD133 negative,had typical fibroblast-like shape,and was able to differentiate into adipocytes; EPCs which were CD34,and CD90 positive,CD13,CD44,CD45 and CD133 negative,adherent with cobble-like shape; HSCs which formed colonies when cultured in MethoCult medium. View Publication

The stem-cell pool is considered to be maintained by a balance between symmetric and asymmetric division of stem cells. The cell polarity model proposes that the facultative use of symmetric and asymmetric cell division is orchestrated by a polarity complex consisting of partitioning-defective proteins Par3 and Par6,and atypical protein kinase C (aPKCζ and aPKCλ),which regulates planar symmetry of dividing stem cells with respect to the signaling microenvironment. However,the role of the polarity complex is unexplored in mammalian adult stem-cell functions. Here we report that,in contrast to accepted paradigms,polarization and activity of adult hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) do not depend on either aPKCζ or aPKCλ or both in vivo. Mice,having constitutive and hematopoietic-specific (Vav1-Cre) deletion of aPKCζ and aPKCλ,respectively,have normal hematopoiesis,including normal HSC self-renewal,engraftment,differentiation,and interaction with the bone marrow microenvironment. Furthermore,inducible complete deletion of aPKCλ (Mx1-Cre) in aPKCζ(-/-) HSC does not affect HSC polarization,self-renewal,engraftment,or lineage repopulation. In addition,aPKCζ- and aPKCλ-deficient HSCs elicited a normal pattern of hematopoietic recovery secondary to myeloablative stress. Taken together,the expression of aPKCζ,aPKCλ,or both are dispensable for primitive and adult HSC fate determination in steady-state and stress hematopoiesis,contrary to the hypothesis of a unique,evolutionary conserved aPKCζ/λ-directed cell polarity signaling mechanism in mammalian HSC fate determination. View Publication

Fbxo7 is an unusual F-box protein because most of its interacting proteins are not substrates for ubiquitin-mediated degradation. Fbxo7 directly binds p27 and Cdk6,enhances the level of cyclin D-Cdk6 complexes,and its overexpression causes Cdk6-dependent transformation of immortalised fibroblasts. Here,we test the ability of Fbxo7 to transform haematopoietic pro-B (Ba/F3) cells which,unexpectedly,it was unable to do despite high levels of Cdk6. Instead,reduction of Fbxo7 expression increased proliferation,decreased cell size and shortened G1 phase. Analysis of cell cycle regulators showed that cells had decreased levels of p27,and increased levels of S phase cyclins and Cdk2 activity. Also,Fbxo7 protein levels correlated inversely with those of CD43,suggesting direct regulation of its expression and,therefore,of B cell maturation. Alterations to Cdk6 protein levels did not affect the cell cycle,indicating that Cdk6 is neither rate-limiting nor essential in Ba/F3 cells; however,decreased expression of Cdk6 also enhanced levels of CD43,indicating that expression of CD43 is independent of cell cycle regulation. The physiological effect of reduced levels of Fbxo7 was assessed by creating a transgenic mouse with a LacZ insertion into the Fbxo7 locus. Homozygous Fbxo7(LacZ) mice showed significantly increased pro-B cell and pro-erythroblast populations,consistent with Fbxo7 having an anti-proliferative function and/or a role in promoting maturation of precursor cells. View Publication