技术资料

Differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into insulin-producing cells for cell replacement therapy of diabetes mellitus comprises the stepwise recapitulation of in vivo developmental stages of pancreatic organogenesis in an in vitro differentiation protocol. The chemical compounds IDE-1 and (-)-indolactam-V can be used to direct mouse and human ESCs through these stages to form definitive endoderm via an intermediate mesendodermal stage and finally into pancreatic endoderm. Cells of the pancreatic endoderm express the PDX1 transcription factor and contribute to all pancreatic cell types upon further in vitro or in vivo differentiation. Even though this differentiation approach is highly effective and reproducible,it generates heterogeneous populations containing PDX1-expressing pancreatic progenitors amongst other cell types. Thus,a technique to separate PDX1-expressing cells from this mixture is very desirable. Recently it has been reported that PDX1-positive pancreatic progenitors,derived from human embryonic stem cells,express the surface marker CD24. Therefore were subjected mouse and human ESCs to a small molecule differentiation approach and the expression of the surface marker CD24 was monitored in undifferentiated cells,cells committed to the definitive endoderm and cells reminiscent of the pancreatic endoderm. We observed that both mouse and human ESCs expressed CD24 in the pluripotent state,during the whole process of endoderm formation and upon further differentiation towards pancreatic endoderm. Thus CD24 is not a suitable cell surface marker for identification of PDX1-positive progenitor cells. View Publication

Neural differentiation of human embryonic (ES) and induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cell lines has been used for research in early human development,drug discovery,and cell replacement therapies. It is critical to establish generic differentiation protocols to compare the neural specification potential of each individually derived pluripotent stem cell line and identify the efficacious lines for research and therapeutic use. Here,we describe a reproducible and quantitative protocol to assess the neural progenitor (NP) generation of human pluripotent stem cell lines. This method includes a robust and well-defined neural inducing platform for Pax6(+) neural rosette (neuroectodermal cells) generation,propagation,and subsequent differentiation into nestin(+) NPs. A side-by-side comparison under common culture conditions among three human ES cell lines,TE03,TE06,and BG01V,and one iPS cell line,HD02,showed highly variable efficiency in their differentiation into NPs. View Publication

The differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) towards functional neurons particularly hold great potential for the cell-based replacement therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. Here,we describe a stepwise differentiation protocol that mimics the early stage of neural development in human to promote the generation of neuroprogenitors at a high yield. Both the hESCs and hiPSCs are initially cultured in an optimized feeder-free condition,which offer an efficient formation of aggregates. To specify the neuroectodermal specification,these aggregates are differentiated in a defined neural induction medium to develop into neural rosettes-like structures. The rosettes are expanded into free-floating sphere and can be further propagated or developed into variety of neuronal subtypes. View Publication

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are unique cells,which have the ability to differentiate into all cell types that comprise the adult organism. Furthermore,ESCs can infinitely self-renew under optimized conditions. These features place human ESCs (hESCs) in a position where these cells can be exploited for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches in treating human degenerative disorders. However,cell therapy approaches will require large amounts of clinically useable cells,not typically achievable using standard static cell culture methods. Here,we describe a method wherein clinically relevant numbers of hESCs can be generated in a cost and time effective manner. View Publication

More than 600 human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines have been reported today at the human European Embryonic Stem Cell Registry ( http://www.hescreg.eu/ ). Despite these high numbers,there are currently no general protocols for derivation,culture,and characterization of hESC. Moreover,data on the culture of the embryo used for the derivation (medium,day of ICM isolation) are usually not available but can have an impact on the derivation rate. We present here the protocols for derivation,culture and characterization as we applied them for the 22 hESC lines (named VUB-hESC) in our laboratory. View Publication

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are self-renewing,pluripotent cells derived from the inner cell mass of blastocysts,early-stage embryos,or blastomeres. hESCs can be propagated indefinitely in an undifferentiated state in vitro and have the ability to differentiate into all cell types of the body. Therefore,these cells can potentially provide an unlimited source of cells and hold promise for transplantation therapy,regenerative medicine,drug screening and discovery,and basic scientific research. Surplus human embryos donated for hESC derivation are extremely valuable,and inefficient derivation of hESCs would be a terrible waste of human embryos. Here,we describe a method for isolating hESC lines from human blastocysts with high efficiency. We also describe the methods for excising differentiated areas from partially differentiated hESC colonies and re-isolating undifferentiated hESCs from extremely differentiated hESC colonies. View Publication

Although since 1998 more than 1,200 different hESC lines have been established worldwide,there is still a recognized interest in the establishment of new lines of hESC,particularly from HLA types and ethnic groups underrepresented among the currently available lines. The methodology of hESC derivation has evolved significantly since the initial derivations using human LIF (hLIF) for maintenance of pluripotency. However,there are still a number of alternative strategies for the different steps involved in establishing a new line of hESC. We have analyzed the different strategies/parameters used between 1998 and 2010 for the derivation of the 375 hESC lines able to form teratomas in immunocompromised mice deposited in two international stem cell registries. Here we describe some trends in the methodology for establishing hESC lines,discussing the developments in the field. Nevertheless,we describe a much greater heterogeneity of strategies for hESCs derivation than what is used for murine ESC lines,indicating that optimum conditions have not been identified yet,and thus,hESC establishment is still an evolving field of research. View Publication

Therapeutic and industrial applications of pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives require large cell quantities generated in defined conditions. To this end,we have translated single cell-inoculated suspension cultures of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs; including human induced pluripotent stem cells [hiPS] and human embryonic stem cells [hESC]) to stirred tank bioreactors. These systems that are widely used in biopharmaceutical industry allow straightforward scale up and detailed online monitoring of key process parameters. To ensure minimum medium consumption,but in parallel functional integration of all probes mandatory for process monitoring,that is,for pO₂ and pH,experiments were performed in 100 mL culture volume in a mini reactor platform" consisting of four independently controlled vessels. By establishing defined parameters for tightly controlled cell inoculation and aggregate formation up to 2×10�?� hiPSCs/100 mL were generated in a single process run in 7 days. Expression of pluripotency markers and ability of cells to differentiate into derivates of all three germ layers in vitro was maintained� View Publication

Recent technological advances in cell reprogramming by generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) offer major perspectives in disease modelling and future hopes for providing novel stem cells sources in regenerative medicine. However,research on iPSC still requires refining the criteria of the pluripotency stage of these cells and exploration of their equivalent functionality to human embryonic stem cells (ESC). We report here on the use of infrared microspectroscopy to follow the spectral modification of somatic cells during the reprogramming process. We show that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) adopt a chemical composition leading to a spectral signature indistinguishable from that of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and entirely different from that of the original somatic cells. Similarly,this technique allows a distinction to be made between partially and fully reprogrammed cells. We conclude that infrared microspectroscopy signature is a novel methodology to evaluate induced pluripotency and can be added to the tests currently used for this purpose. View Publication

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) have two main characteristics: they can be indefinitely propagated in vitro in an undifferentiated state and they are pluripotent,thus having the potential to differentiate into multiple lineages. Such properties make ESCs extremely attractive for cell based therapy and regenerative treatment applications. However for its full potential to be realized the cells have to be differentiated into mature and functional phenotypes,which is a daunting task. A promising approach in inducing cellular differentiation is to closely mimic the path of organogenesis in the in vitro setting. Pancreatic development is known to occur in specific stages,starting with endoderm,which can develop into several organs,including liver and pancreas. Endoderm induction can be achieved by modulation of the nodal pathway through addition of Activin A in combination with several growth factors. Definitive endoderm cells then undergo pancreatic commitment by inhibition of sonic hedgehog inhibition,which can be achieved in vitro by addition of cyclopamine. Pancreatic maturation is mediated by several parallel events including inhibition of notch signaling; aggregation of pancreatic progenitors into 3-dimentional clusters; induction of vascularization; to name a few. By far the most successful in vitro maturation of ESC derived pancreatic progenitor cells have been achieved through inhibition of notch signaling by DAPT supplementation. Although successful,this results in low yield of the mature phenotype with reduced functionality. A less studied area is the effect of endothelial cell signaling in pancreatic maturation,which is increasingly being appreciated as an important contributing factor in in-vivo pancreatic islet maturation. The current study explores such effect of endothelial cell signaling in maturation of human ESC derived pancreatic progenitor cells into insulin producing islet-like cells. We report a multi-stage directed differentiation protocol where the human ESCs are first induced towards endoderm by Activin A along with inhibition of PI3K pathway. Pancreatic specification of endoderm cells is achieved by inhibition of sonic hedgehog signaling by Cyclopamine along with retinoid induction by addition of Retinoic Acid. The final stage of maturation is induced by endothelial cell signaling achieved by a co-culture configuration. While several endothelial cells have been tested in the co-culture,herein we present our data with rat heart microvascular endothelial Cells (RHMVEC),primarily for the ease of analysis. View Publication

Nanog,Oct4,and Sox2 are the core regulators of mouse (m)ESC pluripotency. Although their basic importance in human (h)ESCs has been demonstrated,the mechanistic functions are not well defined. Here,we identify general and cell-line-specific requirements for NANOG,OCT4,and SOX2 in hESCs. We show that OCT4 regulates,and interacts with,the BMP4 pathway to specify four developmental fates. High levels of OCT4 enable self-renewal in the absence of BMP4 but specify mesendoderm in the presence of BMP4. Low levels of OCT4 induce embryonic ectoderm differentiation in the absence of BMP4 but specify extraembryonic lineages in the presence of BMP4. NANOG represses embryonic ectoderm differentiation but has little effect on other lineages,whereas SOX2 and SOX3 are redundant and repress mesendoderm differentiation. Thus,instead of being panrepressors of differentiation,each factor controls specific cell fates. Our study revises the view of how self-renewal is orchestrated in hESCs. 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