技术资料

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA),an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease,is the leading monogenic cause of infant mortality. Homozygous loss of the gene survival of motor neuron 1 (SMN1) causes the selective degeneration of lower motor neurons and subsequent atrophy of proximal skeletal muscles. The SMN1 protein product,survival of motor neuron (SMN),is ubiquitously expressed and is a key factor in the assembly of the core splicing machinery. The molecular mechanisms by which disruption of the broad functions of SMN leads to neurodegeneration remain unclear. We used an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO)-based inducible mouse model of SMA to investigate the SMN-specific transcriptome changes associated with neurodegeneration. We found evidence of widespread intron retention,particularly of minor U12 introns,in the spinal cord of mice 30 d after SMA induction,which was then rescued by a therapeutic ASO. Intron retention was concomitant with a strong induction of the p53 pathway and DNA damage response,manifesting as γ-H2A.X positivity in neurons of the spinal cord and brain. Widespread intron retention and markers of the DNA damage response were also observed with SMN depletion in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons. We also found that retained introns,high in GC content,served as substrates for the formation of transcriptional R-loops. We propose that defects in intron removal in SMA promote DNA damage in part through the formation of RNA:DNA hybrid structures,leading to motor neuron death. View Publication

Activation of thermogenic beige adipocytes has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target in obesity and diabetes. Relevant human models for beige adipocyte differentiation are essential to implement such therapeutic strategies. We report a straightforward and efficient protocol to generate functional human beige adipocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Without overexpression of exogenous adipogenic genes,our method recapitulates an adipogenic developmental pathway through successive mesodermal and adipogenic progenitor stages. hiPSC-derived adipocytes are insulin sensitive and display beige-specific markers and functional properties,including upregulation of thermogenic genes,increased mitochondrial content,and increased oxygen consumption upon activation with cAMP analogs. Engraftment of hiPSC-derived adipocytes in mice produces well-organized and vascularized adipose tissue,capable of β-adrenergic-responsive glucose uptake. Our model of human beige adipocyte development provides a new and scalable tool for disease modeling and therapeutic screening. View Publication

The pig is the large animal model of choice for study of nerve regeneration and wound repair. Availability of porcine sensory neural cells would conceptually allow for analogous cell-based peripheral nerve regeneration in porcine injuries of similar severity and size to those found in humans. After recently reporting that porcine (or pig) induced pluripotent stem cells (piPSCs) differentiate into neural rosette (NR) structures similar to human NRs,here we demonstrate that pig NR cells could differentiate into neural crest cells and other peripheral nervous system-relevant cell types. Treatment with either bone morphogenetic protein 4 or fetal bovine serum led to differentiation into BRN3A-positive sensory cells and increased expression of sensory neuron TRK receptor gene family: TRKA,TRKB,and TRKC. Porcine sensory neural cells would allow determination of parallels between human and porcine cells in response to noxious stimuli,analgesics,and reparative mechanisms. In vitro differentiation of pig sensory neurons provides a novel model system for neural cell subtype specification and would provide a novel platform for the study of regenerative therapeutics by elucidating the requirements for innervation following injury and axonal survival. View Publication

The ability to generate spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) from stem cells is a necessary prerequisite for development of cell-replacement therapies for sensorineural hearing loss. We present a protocol that directs human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) toward a purified population of otic neuronal progenitors (ONPs) and SGN-like cells. Between 82% and 95% of these cells express SGN molecular markers,they preferentially extend neurites to the cochlear nucleus rather than nonauditory nuclei,and they generate action potentials. The protocol follows an in vitro stepwise recapitulation of developmental events inherent to normal differentiation of hESCs into SGNs,resulting in efficient sequential generation of nonneuronal ectoderm,preplacodal ectoderm,early prosensory ONPs,late ONPs,and cells with cellular and molecular characteristics of human SGNs. We thus describe the sequential signaling pathways that generate the early and later lineage species in the human SGN lineage,thereby better describing key developmental processes. The results indicate that our protocol generates cells that closely replicate the phenotypic characteristics of human SGNs,advancing the process of guiding hESCs to states serving inner-ear cell-replacement therapies and possible next-generation hybrid auditory prostheses. textcopyright Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:923-936. View Publication

The development of targeted therapeutics for rare neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) faces significant challenges due to the scarcity of subjects and the difficulty of obtaining human neural cells. Here,we illustrate a rapid,simple protocol by which patient derived cells can be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using an episomal vector and differentiated into neurons. Using this platform enables patient somatic cells to be converted to physiologically active neurons in less than two months with minimal labor. This platform includes a method to combine somatic cell reprogramming with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing at single cell resolution,which enables the concurrent development of clonal knockout or knock-in models that can be used as isogenic control lines. This platform reduces the logistical barrier for using iPSC technology,allows for the development of appropriate control lines for use in rare neurodevelopmental disease research,and establishes a fundamental component to targeted therapeutics and precision medicine. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:886-896. View Publication

BACKGROUND Advancing structural and functional maturation of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes remains a key challenge for applications in disease modeling,drug screening,and heart repair. Here,we sought to advance cardiomyocyte maturation in engineered human myocardium (EHM) toward an adult phenotype under defined conditions. METHODS We systematically investigated cell composition,matrix,and media conditions to generate EHM from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts with organotypic functionality under serum-free conditions. We used morphological,functional,and transcriptome analyses to benchmark maturation of EHM. RESULTS EHM demonstrated important structural and functional properties of postnatal myocardium,including: (1) rod-shaped cardiomyocytes with M bands assembled as a functional syncytium; (2) systolic twitch forces at a similar level as observed in bona fide postnatal myocardium; (3) a positive force-frequency response; (4) inotropic responses to β-adrenergic stimulation mediated via canonical β1- and β2-adrenoceptor signaling pathways; and (5) evidence for advanced molecular maturation by transcriptome profiling. EHM responded to chronic catecholamine toxicity with contractile dysfunction,cardiomyocyte hypertrophy,cardiomyocyte death,and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide release; all are classical hallmarks of heart failure. In addition,we demonstrate the scalability of EHM according to anticipated clinical demands for cardiac repair. CONCLUSIONS We provide proof-of-concept for a universally applicable technology for the engineering of macroscale human myocardium for disease modeling and heart repair from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes under defined,serum-free conditions. View Publication

The use of human pluripotent stem cells in basic and translational cardiac research requires efficient differentiation protocols towards cardiomyocytes. In vitro differentiation yields heterogeneous populations of ventricular-,atrial-,and nodal-like cells hindering their potential applications in regenerative therapies. We described the effect of the growth factor Activin A during early human embryonic stem cell fate determination in cardiac differentiation. Addition of high levels of Activin A during embryoid body cardiac differentiation augmented the generation of endoderm derivatives,which in turn promoted cardiomyocyte differentiation. Moreover,a dose-dependent increase in the coreceptor expression of the TGF-β superfamily member CRIPTO-1 was observed in response to Activin A. We hypothesized that interactions between cells derived from meso- and endodermal lineages in embryoid bodies contributed to improved cell maturation in early stages of cardiac differentiation,improving the beating frequency and the percentage of contracting embryoid bodies. Activin A did not seem to affect the properties of cardiomyocytes at later stages of differentiation,measuring action potentials,and intracellular Ca(2+) dynamics. These findings are relevant for improving our understanding on human heart development,and the proposed protocol could be further explored to obtain cardiomyocytes with functional phenotypes,similar to those observed in adult cardiac myocytes. View Publication

X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD) is an immune deficiency resulting from defective production of microbicidal reactive oxygen species (ROS) by phagocytes. Causative mutations occur throughout the CYBB gene,resulting in absent or defective gp91(phox) protein expression. To correct CYBB exon 5 mutations while retaining normal gene regulation,we utilized TALEN or Cas9 for exon 5 replacement in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients,which restored gp91(phox) expression and ROS production in iPSC-derived granulocytes. Alternate approaches for correcting the majority of X-CGD mutations were assessed,involving TALEN- or Cas9-mediated insertion of CYBB minigenes at exon 1 or 2 of the CYBB locus. Targeted insertion of an exon 1-13 minigene into CYBB exon 1 resulted in no detectable gp91(phox) expression or ROS activity in iPSC-derived granulocytes. In contrast,targeted insertion of an exon 2-13 minigene into exon 2 restored both gp91(phox) and ROS activity. This demonstrates the efficacy of two correction strategies: seamless repair of specific CYBB mutations by exon replacement or targeted insertion of an exon 2-13 minigene to CYBB exon 2 while retaining exon/intron 1. Furthermore,it highlights a key issue for targeted insertion strategies for expression from an endogenous promoter: retention of intronic elements can be necessary for expression. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can give rise to multiple cell types and hold great promise in regenerative medicine and disease-modeling applications. We have developed a reliable two-step protocol to generate human mammary-like organoids from iPSCs. Non-neural ectoderm-cell-containing spheres,referred to as mEBs,were first differentiated and enriched from iPSCs using MammoCult medium. Gene expression profile analysis suggested that mammary gland function-associated signaling pathways were hallmarks of 10-day differentiated mEBs. We then generated mammary-like organoids from 10-day mEBs using 3D floating mixed gel culture and a three-stage differentiation procedure. These organoids expressed common breast tissue,luminal,and basal markers,including estrogen receptor,and could be induced to produce milk protein. These results demonstrate that human iPSCs can be directed in vitro toward mammary lineage differentiation. Our findings provide an iPSC-based model for studying regulation of normal mammary cell fate and function as well as breast disease development. View Publication

Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors mediate high efficiency gene editing in induced pluripotent stem cells without needing a designer nuclease thereby avoiding off-target cleavage. Because of their large cloning capacity of 37 kb,helper-dependent adenoviral vectors with long homology arms are used for gene editing. However,this makes vector construction and recombinant analysis difficult. Conversely,insufficient homology may compromise targeting efficiency. Thus,we investigated the effect of homology length on helper-dependent adenoviral vector targeting efficiency at the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator locus in induced pluripotent stem cells and found a positive correlation. With 23.8 and 21.4 kb of homology,the frequencies of targeted recombinants were 50-64.6% after positive selection for vector integration,and 97.4-100% after negative selection against random integrations. With 14.8 kb,the frequencies were 26.9-57.1% after positive selection and 87.5-100% after negative selection. With 9.6 kb,the frequencies were 21.4 and 75% after positive and negative selection,respectively. With only 5.6 kb,the frequencies were 5.6-16.7% after positive selection and 50% after negative selection,but these were more than high enough for efficient identification and isolation of targeted clones. Furthermore,we demonstrate helper-dependent adenoviral vector-mediated footprintless correction of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator mutations through piggyBac excision of the selectable marker. However,low frequencies (≤ 1 × 10(-3)) necessitated negative selection for piggyBac-excision product isolation. View Publication

Interspecies blastocyst complementation enables organ-specific enrichment of xenogenic pluripotent stem cell (PSC) derivatives. Here,we establish a versatile blastocyst complementation platform based on CRISPR-Cas9-mediated zygote genome editing and show enrichment of rat PSC-derivatives in several tissues of gene-edited organogenesis-disabled mice. Besides gaining insights into species evolution,embryogenesis,and human disease,interspecies blastocyst complementation might allow human organ generation in animals whose organ size,anatomy,and physiology are closer to humans. To date,however,whether human PSCs (hPSCs) can contribute to chimera formation in non-rodent species remains unknown. We systematically evaluate the chimeric competency of several types of hPSCs using a more diversified clade of mammals,the ungulates. We find that naïve hPSCs robustly engraft in both pig and cattle pre-implantation blastocysts but show limited contribution to post-implantation pig embryos. Instead,an intermediate hPSC type exhibits higher degree of chimerism and is able to generate differentiated progenies in post-implantation pig embryos. View Publication

Sickle cell anemia affects millions of people worldwide and is an emerging global health burden. As part of a large NIH-funded NextGen Consortium,we generated a diverse,comprehensive,and fully characterized library of sickle-cell-disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients of different ethnicities,β-globin gene (HBB) haplotypes,and fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels. iPSCs stand to revolutionize the way we study human development,model disease,and perhaps eventually,treat patients. Here,we describe this unique resource for the study of sickle cell disease,including novel haplotype-specific polymorphisms that affect disease severity,as well as for the development of patient-specific therapeutics for this phenotypically diverse disorder. As a complement to this library,and as proof of principle for future cell- and gene-based therapies,we also designed and employed CRISPR/Cas gene editing tools to correct the sickle hemoglobin (HbS) mutation. View Publication