Product Information

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs),due to their self-renewal capacity and pluripotency,have become a potential source of transplantable $\$-cells for the treatment of diabetes. However,it is imperative that the derived cells fulfill the criteria for clinical treatment. In this study,we replaced common Matrigel with a synthetic peptide-acrylate surface (Synthemax) to expand undifferentiated hESCs and direct their differentiation in a defined and serum-free medium. We confirmed that the cells still expressed pluripotent markers,had the ability to differentiate into three germ layers,and maintained a normal karyotype after 10 passages of subculture. Next,we reported an efficient protocol for deriving nearly 86% definitive endoderm cells from hESCs under serum-free conditions. Moreover,we were able to obtain insulin-producing cells within 21 days following a simple three-step protocol. The results of immunocytochemical and quantitative gene expression analysis showed that the efficiency of induction was not significantly different between the Synthemax surface and the Matrigel-coated surface. Thus,we provided a totally defined condition from hESC culture to insulin-producing cell differentiation,and the derived cells could be a therapeutic resource for diabetic patients in the future. View Publication

Pharmacokinetic (PK) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays are essential to the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAb) during drug development. These methods require reagents with a high degree of specificity because low concentrations of therapeutic antibody need to be detected in samples containing high concentrations of endogenous human immunoglobulins. Current assay reagent generation practices are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Moreover,these practices are molecule-specific and so only support one assay for one program at a time. Here,we describe a strategy to generate a unique assay reagent,10C4,that preferentially recognizes a panel of recombinant human mAbs over endogenous human immunoglobulins. This panel-specific" feature enables the reagent to be used in PK and IHC assays for multiple structurally-related therapeutic mAbs. Characterization revealed that the 10C4 epitope is conformational� View Publication

It has been 50 years since cellular senescence was first described in human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs),yet its mechanism as well as its physiological and clinical implications are still not fully appreciated. Recent progress suggests that cellular senescence is a collective phenotype,composed of complex networks of effector programs. The balance and quality within the effector network varies depending on the cell type,the nature of the stress as well as the context. Therefore,understanding each of these effectors in the context of the whole network will be necessary in order to fully understand senescence as a whole. Furthermore,searching for new effector programs of senescence will help to define this heterogeneous and complex phenotype according to cellular contexts. View Publication

OBJECTIVE: The S100A9 and S100A8 proteins are highly expressed by neutrophils and monocytes and are part of a group of damage-associated molecular pattern molecules that trigger inflammatory responses. Sera and synovial fluids of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) contain high concentrations of S100A8/A9 that correlate with disease activity.backslashnbackslashnMETHODS: In this study,we investigated the importance of S100A9 in RA by using neutralizing antibodies in a murine lipopolysaccharide-synchronized collagen-induced arthritis model. We also used an in vitro model of stimulation of human immune cells to decipher the role played by S100A9 in leukocyte migration and pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion.backslashnbackslashnRESULTS: Treatment with anti-S100A9 antibodies improved the clinical score by 50%,diminished immune cell infiltration,reduced inflammatory cytokines,both in serum and in the joints,and preserved bone/collagen integrity. Stimulation of neutrophils with S100A9 protein led to the enhancement of neutrophil transendothelial migration. S100A9 protein also induced the secretion by monocytes of proinflammatory cytokines like TNFα,IL-1β and IL-6,and of chemokines like MIP-1α and MCP-1.backslashnbackslashnCONCLUSION: The effects of anti-S100A9 treatment are likely direct consequences of inhibiting the S100A9-mediated promotion of neutrophil transmigration and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines from monocytes. Collectively,our results show that treatment with anti-S100A9 may inhibit amplification of the immune response and help preserve tissue integrity. Therefore,S100A9 is a promising potential therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis for which alternative therapeutic strategies are needed. View Publication

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic was a major international public health crisis which caused considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. The goal of this study was to produce anti-H1 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for improving diagnostic immunological assays and to develop potential immunotherapeutics. Nine MAbs were produced after immunizing mice with recombinant hemagglutinin (HA) protein from A/California/06/09. Two spleenocyte myeloma fusions yielded 1588 hybridoma cultures. After screening the hybridoma culture supernatants for antibody reactivity to rHA,nine clones were selected for further characterization. Cross-reactivity studies of the anti-rHA antibodies against a panel of influenza viruses (H1-H16) revealed eight out of nine MAbs were specific to the pandemic H1 subtype,except for MAb F256G2sc1 which also cross-reacted with H5 subtype virus. All MAbs were of the IgG1κ isotype,except F256G2sc1 which was IgG2aκ. The anti-rHA MAbs had binding affinities to rHA that ranged from a K(D) (disassociation constant) of 1.34×10(-9)M (F255G7sc1) to the weakest affinity of 4.60×10(-8)M (F255G4sc1). Interestingly,in a plaque reduction neutralization assay,all MAbs except F255G3sc1 demonstrated neutralizing ability. Furthermore,all MAbs except F255G3sc1 and F255G9sc1 exhibited anti-hemagglutinin activity against pandemic H1N1 viruses,but not against classical North American swine influenza viruses of the same subtype. Immunofluorescence assay (IFA) demonstrated that all MAbs except F255G1sc1 and F255G3sc1 were able to detect 2009 pandemic H1N1 (2009) virus- infected MDCK cells. The MAbs were also evaluated for potential use in competitive ELISA (cELISA),and with the exception of F255G3sc1,all MAbs showed competitive activity with serum collected from pigs infected with pandemic H1N1 virus (2009). The developed MAbs have demonstrated utility as immunodiagnostic and research reagents,and their neutralizing capabilities also hold potential for designing antiviral drugs against pandemic influenza. View Publication

Deriving lung progenitors from patient-specific pluripotent cells is a key step in producing differentiated lung epithelium for disease modeling and transplantation. By mimicking the signaling events that occur during mouse lung development,we generated murine lung progenitors in a series of discrete steps. Definitive endoderm derived from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) was converted into foregut endoderm,then into replicating Nkx2.1+ lung endoderm,and finally into multipotent embryonic lung progenitor and airway progenitor cells. We demonstrated that precisely-timed BMP,FGF,and WNT signaling are required for NKX2.1 induction. Mouse ESC-derived Nkx2.1+ progenitor cells formed respiratory epithelium (tracheospheres) when transplanted subcutaneously into mice. We then adapted this strategy to produce disease-specific lung progenitor cells from human Cystic Fibrosis induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),creating a platform for dissecting human lung disease. These disease-specific human lung progenitors formed respiratory epithelium when subcutaneously engrafted into immunodeficient mice. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are generated from somatic cells by the forced expression of a defined set of pluripotency-associated transcription factors. Human iPS cells can be propagated indefinitely,while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into all cell types in the body except for extra-embryonic tissues. This technology not only represents a new way to use individual-specific stem cells for regenerative medicine but also constitutes a novel method to obtain large amounts of disease-specific cells for biomedical research. Despite their great potential,the long reprogramming process (up to 1. month) remains one of the most significant challenges facing standard virus-mediated methodology. In this study,we report the accelerated generation of human iPS cells from adipose-derived stem (ADS) cells,using a new combination of chemical inhibitors under a setting of physiological hypoxia in conjunction with retroviral transduction of Oct4,Sox2,Klf4,and L-Myc. Under optimized conditions,we observed human embryonic stem (ES)-like cells as early as 6. days after the initial retroviral transduction. This was followed by the emergence of fully reprogrammed cells bearing Tra-1-81-positive and DsRed transgene-silencing properties on day 10. The resulting cell lines resembled human ES cells in many respects including proliferation rate,morphology,pluripotency-associated markers,global gene expression patterns,genome-wide DNA methylation states,and the ability to differentiate into all three of the germ layers,both in vitro and in vivo. Our method,when combined with chemical inhibitors under conditions of physiological hypoxia,offers a powerful tool for rapidly generating bona fide human iPS cells and facilitates the application of iPS cell technology to biomedical research. textcopyright 2011 Elsevier Inc. View Publication

Symptomatic dengue virus infection ranges in disease severity from an influenza-like illness to life-threatening shock. One model of the mechanism underlying severe disease proposes that weakly neutralizing,dengue serotype cross-reactive antibodies induced during a primary infection facilitate virus entry into Fc receptor-bearing cells during a subsequent secondary infection,increasing viral replication and the release of cytokines and vasoactive mediators,culminating in shock. This process has been termed antibody-dependent enhancement of infection and has significantly hindered vaccine development. Much of our understanding of this process has come from studies using mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs); however,antibody responses in mice typically exhibit less complexity than those in humans. A better understanding of the humoral immune response to natural dengue virus infection in humans is sorely needed. Using a high-efficiency human hybridoma technology,we isolated 37 hybridomas secreting human MAbs to dengue viruses from 12 subjects years or even decades following primary or secondary infection. The majority of the human antibodies recovered were broadly cross-reactive,directed against either envelope or premembrane proteins,and capable of enhancement of infection in vitro; few exhibited serotype-specific binding or potent neutralizing activity. Memory B cells encoding enhancing antibodies predominated in the circulation,even two or more decades following infection. Mapping the epitopes and activity of naturally occurring dengue antibodies should prove valuable in determining whether the enhancing and neutralizing activity of antibodies can be separated. Such principles could be used in the rational design of vaccines that enhance the induction of neutralizing antibodies,while lowering the risk of dengue shock syndrome. View Publication

The fast-growing biopharmaceutical industry demands speedy development of highly efficient and reliable production systems to meet the increasing requirement for drug supplies. The generation of production cell lines has traditionally involved manual operations that are labor-intensive,low-throughput and vulnerable to human errors. We report here an integrated high-throughput and automated platform for development of manufacturing cell lines for the production of protein therapeutics. The combination of BD FACS Aria Cell Sorter,CloneSelect Imager and TECAN Freedom EVO liquid handling system has enabled a high-throughput and more efficient cell line development process. In this operation,production host cells are first transfected with an expression vector carrying the gene of interest (1),followed by the treatment with a selection agent. The stably-transfected cells are then stained with fluorescence-labeled anti-human IgG antibody,and are subsequently subject to flow cytometry analysis (2-4). Highly productive cells are selected based on fluorescence intensity and are isolated by single-cell sorting on a BD FACSAria. Colony formation from single-cell stage was detected microscopically and a series of time-laps digital images are taken by CloneSelect Imager for the documentation of cell line history. After single clones have formed,these clones were screened for productivity by ELISA performed on a TECAN Freedom EVO liquid handling system. Approximately 2,000 - 10,000 clones can be screened per operation cycle with the current system setup. This integrated approach has been used to generate high producing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines for the production of therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) as well as their fusion proteins. With the aid of different types of detecting probes,the method can be used for developing other protein therapeutics or be applied to other production host systems. Comparing to the traditional manual procedure,this automated platform demonstrated advantages of significantly increased capacity,ensured clonality,traceability in cell line history with electronic documentation and much reduced opportunity in operator error. View Publication

Tools permitting the isolation of live pancreatic cell subsets for culture and/or molecular analysis are limited. To address this,we developed a collection of monoclonal antibodies with selective surface labeling of endocrine and exocrine pancreatic cell types. Cell type labeling specificity and cell surface reactivity were validated on mouse pancreatic sections and by gene expression analysis of cells isolated using FACS. Five antibodies which marked populations of particular interest were used to isolate and study viable populations of purified pancreatic ducts,acinar cells,and subsets of acinar cells from whole pancreatic tissue or of alpha or beta cells from isolated mouse islets. Gene expression analysis showed the presence of known endocrine markers in alpha and beta cell populations and revealed that TTR and DPPIV are primarily expressed in alpha cells whereas DGKB and GPM6A have a beta cell specific expression profile. View Publication