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Focal malformations of cortical development (FMCDs) account for the majority of drug-resistant pediatric epilepsy. Postzygotic somatic mutations activating the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (AKT)-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway are found in a wide range of brain diseases,including FMCDs. It remains unclear how a mutation in a small fraction of cells disrupts the architecture of the entire hemisphere. Within human FMCD-affected brain,we found that cells showing activation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway were enriched for the AKT3(E17K) mutation. Introducing the FMCD-causing mutation into mouse brain resulted in electrographic seizures and impaired hemispheric architecture. Mutation-expressing neural progenitors showed misexpression of reelin,which led to a non-cell autonomous migration defect in neighboring cells,due at least in part to derepression of reelin transcription in a manner dependent on the forkhead box (FOX) transcription factor FOXG1. Treatments aimed at either blocking downstream AKT signaling or inactivating reelin restored migration. These findings suggest a central AKT-FOXG1-reelin signaling pathway in FMCD and support pathway inhibitors as potential treatments or therapies for some forms of focal epilepsy. View Publication

Establishment of angiogenic circuits that orchestrate blood vessel development and remodeling requires an exquisite balance between the activities of pro- and antiangiogenic factors. However,the logic that permits complex signal integration by vascular endothelium is poorly understood. We demonstrate that a neuropeptide� View Publication

An important risk in the clinical application of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs),including human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (hESCs and hiPSCs),is teratoma formation by residual undifferentiated cells. We raised a monoclonal antibody against hESCs,designated anti-stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-5,which binds a previously unidentified antigen highly and specifically expressed on hPSCs--the H type-1 glycan. Separation based on SSEA-5 expression through fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) greatly reduced teratoma-formation potential of heterogeneously differentiated cultures. To ensure complete removal of teratoma-forming cells,we identified additional pluripotency surface markers (PSMs) exhibiting a large dynamic expression range during differentiation: CD9,CD30,CD50,CD90 and CD200. Immunohistochemistry studies of human fetal tissues and bioinformatics analysis of a microarray database revealed that concurrent expression of these markers is both common and specific to hPSCs. Immunodepletion with antibodies against SSEA-5 and two additional PSMs completely removed teratoma-formation potential from incompletely differentiated hESC cultures. View Publication

Mesoderm is the developmental precursor to myriad human tissues including bone,heart,and skeletal muscle. Unravelling the molecular events through which these lineages become diversified from one another is integral to developmental biology and understanding changes in cellular fate. To this end,we developed an in vitro system to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells through primitive streak intermediates into paraxial mesoderm and its derivatives (somites,sclerotome,dermomyotome) and separately,into lateral mesoderm and its derivatives (cardiac mesoderm). Whole-population and single-cell analyses of these purified populations of human mesoderm lineages through RNA-seq,ATAC-seq,and high-throughput surface marker screens illustrated how transcriptional changes co-occur with changes in open chromatin and surface marker landscapes throughout human mesoderm development. This molecular atlas will facilitate study of human mesoderm development (which cannot be interrogated in vivo due to restrictions on human embryo studies) and provides a broad resource for the study of gene regulation in development at the single-cell level,knowledge that might one day be exploited for regenerative medicine. View Publication

Efficient cryopreservation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in chemically defined,xeno-free conditions is highly desirable for medical research and clinical applications such as cell-based therapies. Here we present a simple and effective slow freezing-rapid thawing protocol for the cryopreservation of feeder-free,single hPSCs. This cryopreservation protocol involves the supplementation of 10 % dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 10 $$M Rho-associated kinase inhibitor Y-27632 into two types of xeno-free,defined media supplements (Knockout Serum Replacement and TeSR2). High post-thaw cell recovery (˜90 %) and cell expansion (˜70 %) can be achieved using this protocol. The cryopreserved single cells retain the morphological characteristics of hPSCs and differentiation capabilities of pluripotent stem cells. View Publication

The rapid generation of various species and strains of laboratory animals using CRISPR/Cas9 technology has dramatically accelerated the interrogation of gene function in vivo. So far,the dominant approach for genotyping of genome-modified animals has been the T7E1 endonuclease cleavage assay. Here,we present a polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-based (PAGE) method to genotype mice harboring different types of indel mutations. We developed 6 strains of genome-modified mice using CRISPR/Cas9 system,and utilized this approach to genotype mice from F0 to F2 generation,which included single and multiplexed genome-modified mice. We also determined the maximal detection sensitivity for detecting mosaic DNA using PAGE-based assay as 0.5%. We further applied PAGE-based genotyping approach to detect CRISPR/Cas9-mediated on- and off-target effect in human 293T and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Thus,PAGE-based genotyping approach meets the rapidly increasing demand for genotyping of the fast-growing number of genome-modified animals and human cell lines created using CRISPR/Cas9 system or other nuclease systems such as TALEN or ZFN. View Publication

Any epithelial portion of a normal mouse mammary gland can reproduce an entire functional gland when transplanted into an epithelium-free mammary fat pad. Mouse mammary hyperplasias and tumors are clonal dominant populations and probably represent the progeny of a single transformed cell. Our study provides evidence that single multipotent stem cells positioned throughout the mature fully developed mammary gland have the capacity to produce sufficient differentiated progeny to recapitulate an entire functional gland. Our evidence also demonstrates that these stem cells are self-renewing and are found with undiminished capacities in the newly regenerated gland. We have taken advantage of an experimental model where mouse mammary tumor virus infects mammary epithelial cells and inserts a deoxyribonucleic acid copy(ies) of its genome during replication. The insertions occur randomly within the somatic genome. CzechII mice have no endogenous nucleic acid sequence homology with mouse mammary tumor virus; therefore all viral insertions may be detected by Southern analysis provided a sufficient number of cells contain a specific insertional event. Transplantation of random fragments of infected CzechII mammary gland produced clonal-dominant epithelial populations in epithelium-free mammary fat pads. Serial transplantation of pieces of the clonally derived outgrowths produced second generation glands possessing the same viral insertion sites providing evidence for self-renewal of the original stem cell. Limiting dilution studies with cell cultures derived from third generation clonal outgrowths demonstrated that three multipotent but distinct mammary epithelial progenitors were present in clonally derived mammary epithelial populations. Estimation of the potential number of multipotent epithelial cells that may be evolved from an individual mammary-specific stem cell by self-renewal is in the order of 10(12)-10(13). Therefore,one stem cell might easily account for the renewal of mammary epithelium over several transplant generations. View Publication

Compared to bone marrow (BM) derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from human origin or from other species,the in vitro expansion and purification of murine MSCs (mMSCs) is much more difficult because of the low MSC yield and the unwanted growth of non-MSCs in the in vitro expansion cultures. We describe a modified protocol to isolate and expand murine BM derived MSCs based on the combination of mechanical crushing and collagenase digestion at the moment of harvest,followed by an immunodepletion step using microbeads coated with CD11b,CD45 and CD34 antibodies. The number of isolated mMSCs as estimated by colony forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) assay showed that this modified isolation method could yield 70.0% more primary colonies. After immunodepletion,a homogenous mMSC population could already be obtained after two passages. Immunodepleted mMSCs (ID-mMSCs) are uniformly positive for stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1),CD90,CD105 and CD73 cell surface markers,but negative for the hematopoietic surface markers CD14,CD34 and CD45. Moreover the immunodepleted cell population exhibits more differentiation potential into adipogenic,osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages. Our data illustrate the development of an efficient and reliable expansion protocol increasing the yield and purity of mMSCs and reducing the overall expansion time. View Publication

Prolonged in vitro culture of human embryonic stem (hES) cells can result in chromosomal abnormalities believed to confer a selective advantage. This potential occurrence has crucial implications for the appropriate use of hES cells for research and therapeutic purposes. In view of this,time-point karyotypic evaluation to assess genetic stability is recommended as a necessary control test to be carried out during extensive 'passaging'. Standard techniques currently used for the cytogenetic assessment of ES cells include G-banding and/or Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH)-based protocols for karyotype analysis,including M-FISH and SKY. Critical for both banding and FISH techniques are the number and quality of metaphase spreads available for analysis at the microscope. Protocols for chromosome preparation from hES and human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells published so far appear to differ considerably from one laboratory to another. Here we present an optimized technique,in which both the number and the quality of chromosome metaphase spreads were substantially improved when compared to current standard techniques for chromosome preparations. We believe our protocol represents a significant advancement in this line of work,and has the required attributes of simplicity and consistency to be widely accepted as a reference method for high quality,fast chromosomal analysis of human ES and iPS cells. View Publication

Magnesium (Mg) is a promising biodegradable metallic material for applications in cellular/tissue engineering and biomedical implants/devices. To advance clinical translation of Mg-based biomaterials,we investigated the effects and mechanisms of Mg degradation on the proliferation and pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). We used hESCs as the in vitro model system to study cellular responses to Mg degradation because they are sensitive to toxicants and capable of differentiating into any cell types of interest for regenerative medicine. In a previous study when hESCs were cultured in vitro with either polished metallic Mg (99.9% purity) or pre-degraded Mg,cell death was observed within the first 30 hours of culture. Excess Mg ions and hydroxide ions induced by Mg degradation may have been the causes for the observed cell death; hence,their respective effects on hESCs were investigated for the first time to reveal the potential mechanisms. For this purpose,the mTeSR®1 hESC culture media was either modified to an alkaline pH of 8.1 or supplemented with 0.4-40 mM of Mg ions. We showed that the initial increase of media pH to 8.1 had no adverse effect on hESC proliferation. At all tested Mg ion dosages,the hESCs grew to confluency and retained pluripotency as indicated by the expression of OCT4,SSEA3,and SOX2. When the supplemental Mg ion dosages increased to greater than 10 mM,however,hESC colony morphology changed and cell counts decreased. These results suggest that Mg-based implants or scaffolds are promising in combination with hESCs for regenerative medicine applications,providing their degradation rate is moderate. Additionally,the hESC culture system could serve as a standard model for cytocompatibility studies of Mg in vitro,and an identified 10 mM critical dosage of Mg ions could serve as a design guideline for safe degradation of Mg-based implants/scaffolds. View Publication

Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into organ-specific subtypes offers an exciting avenue for the study of embryonic development and disease processes,for pharmacologic studies and as a potential resource for therapeutic transplant. To date,limited in vivo models exist for human intestine,all of which are dependent upon primary epithelial cultures or digested tissue from surgical biopsies that include mesenchymal cells transplanted on biodegradable scaffolds. Here,we generated human intestinal organoids (HIOs) produced in vitro from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that can engraft in vivo. These HIOs form mature human intestinal epithelium with intestinal stem cells contributing to the crypt-villus architecture and a laminated human mesenchyme,both supported by mouse vasculature ingrowth. In vivo transplantation resulted in marked expansion and maturation of the epithelium and mesenchyme,as demonstrated by differentiated intestinal cell lineages (enterocytes,goblet cells,Paneth cells,tuft cells and enteroendocrine cells),presence of functional brush-border enzymes (lactase,sucrase-isomaltase and dipeptidyl peptidase 4) and visible subepithelial and smooth muscle layers when compared with HIOs in vitro. Transplanted intestinal tissues demonstrated digestive functions as shown by permeability and peptide uptake studies. Furthermore,transplanted HIO-derived tissue was responsive to systemic signals from the host mouse following ileocecal resection,suggesting a role for circulating factors in the intestinal adaptive response. This model of the human small intestine may pave the way for studies of intestinal physiology,disease and translational studies. View Publication

We previously found that some myeloma cell lines express the heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) gene. As the proteoglycan syndecan-1 is an HB-EGF coreceptor as well as a hallmark of plasma cell differentiation and a marker of myeloma cells,we studied the role of HB-EGF on myeloma cell growth. The HB-EGF gene was expressed by bone marrow mononuclear cells in 8 of 8 patients with myeloma,particularly by monocytes and stromal cells,but not by purified primary myeloma cells. Six of 9 myeloma cell lines and 9 of 9 purified primary myeloma cells expressed ErbB1 or ErbB4 genes coding for HB-EGF receptor. In the presence of a low interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration,HB-EGF stimulated the proliferation of the 6 ErbB1+ or ErbB4+ cell lines,through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT (PI-3K/AKT) pathway. A pan-ErbB inhibitor blocked the myeloma cell growth factor activity and the signaling induced by HB-EGF. This inhibitor induced apoptosis of patients'myeloma cells cultured with their tumor environment. It also increased patients' myeloma cell apoptosis induced by an anti-IL-6 antibody or dexamethasone. The ErbB inhibitor had no effect on the interaction between multiple myeloma cells and stromal cells. It was not toxic for nonmyeloma cells present in patients' bone marrow cultures or for the growth of hematopoietic progenitors. Altogether,these data identify ErbB receptors as putative therapeutic targets in multiple myeloma. View Publication