技术资料

The enteric nervous system (ENS) of the gastrointestinal tract controls many diverse functions,including motility and epithelial permeability. Perturbations in ENS development or function are common,yet there is no human model for studying ENS-intestinal biology and disease. We used a tissue-engineering approach with embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to generate human intestinal tissue containing a functional ENS. We recapitulated normal intestinal ENS development by combining human-PSC-derived neural crest cells (NCCs) and developing human intestinal organoids (HIOs). NCCs recombined with HIOs in vitro migrated into the mesenchyme,differentiated into neurons and glial cells and showed neuronal activity,as measured by rhythmic waves of calcium transients. ENS-containing HIOs grown in vivo formed neuroglial structures similar to a myenteric and submucosal plexus,had functional interstitial cells of Cajal and had an electromechanical coupling that regulated waves of propagating contraction. Finally,we used this system to investigate the cellular and molecular basis for Hirschsprung's disease caused by a mutation in the gene PHOX2B. This is,to the best of our knowledge,the first demonstration of human-PSC-derived intestinal tissue with a functional ENS and how this system can be used to study motility disorders of the human gastrointestinal tract. View Publication

Historically,the routine use of laboratory automation solutions has been prohibitively expensive for many laboratories. As legacy hardware has begun to emerge on the secondary market,automation is becoming an increasingly affordable option to augment workflow in virtually any laboratory. To assess the utility of legacy liquid handling in stem cell differentiation,a used liquid handling robot was purchased at auction to automate a stem cell differentiation protocol that gives rise to CD14 + CD45+ mononuclear cells. To maintain sterility,the automated liquid handling robot was housed in a custom constructed HEPA filtered enclosure. A custom cell scraper and a disposable filter box were designed and 3D printed to permit the robot intricate cell culture actions required by the protocol. All files for the 3D printed labware are uploaded and are freely available. •A used liquid handling robot was used to automate an hESC to monocyte differentiation protocol.•The robot-performed protocol induced monocytes as effectively as human technicians.•Custom 3D printed labware was made to permit certain cell culture actions and are uploaded for free access. View Publication

TRAF1 is a signaling adaptor known for its role in tumor necrosis factor receptor-induced cell survival. Here we show that monocytes from healthy human subjects with a rheumatoid arthritis-associated single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the TRAF1 gene express less TRAF1 protein but greater amounts of inflammatory cytokines in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The TRAF1 MATH domain binds directly to three components of the linear ubiquitination (LUBAC) complex,SHARPIN,HOIP and HOIL-1,to interfere with the recruitment and linear ubiquitination of NEMO. This results in decreased NF-κB activation and cytokine production,independently of tumor necrosis factor. Consistent with this,Traf1(-/-) mice show increased susceptibility to LPS-induced septic shock. These findings reveal an unexpected role for TRAF1 in negatively regulating Toll-like receptor signaling,providing a mechanistic explanation for the increased inflammation seen with a disease-associated TRAF1 SNP. View Publication

To develop a purification strategy for isolating the most primitive hematopoietic stem cells present in normal human marrow we have combined cell separation techniques with an assay for cells that initiate sustained hematopoiesis in vitro in the presence of irradiated human marrow adherent cells. These feeders" were established by subculturing 2- to 6-week-old primary long-term marrow culture adherent layers at a density of 3 x 10(4) irradiated cells per square centimeter. Test "long-term culture (LTC)-initiating cells" were plated on top of the feeders and the cocultures then maintained as standard long-term marrow cultures with half-media changes and removal of half of the nonadherent cells each week. The total number of myeloid� View Publication

Telomere length maintenance ensures self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs); however,the mechanisms governing telomere length homeostasis in these cell types are unclear. Here,we report that telomere length is determined by the balance between telomere elongation,which is mediated by telomerase,and telomere trimming,which is controlled by XRCC3 and Nbs1,homologous recombination proteins that generate single-stranded C-rich telomeric DNA and double-stranded telomeric circular DNA (T-circles),respectively. We found that reprogramming of differentiated cells induces T-circle and single-stranded C-rich telomeric DNA accumulation,indicating the activation of telomere trimming pathways that compensate telomerase-dependent telomere elongation in hiPSCs. Excessive telomere elongation compromises telomere stability and promotes the formation of partially single-stranded telomeric DNA circles (C-circles) in hESCs,suggesting heightened sensitivity of stem cells to replication stress at overly long telomeres. Thus,tight control of telomere length homeostasis is essential to maintain telomere stability in hESCs. View Publication

A human cell-based in vitro model that can accurately predict drug penetration into the brain as well as metrics to assess these in vitro models are valuable for the development of new therapeutics. Here,human induced pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are differentiated into a polarized monolayer that express blood-brain barrier (BBB)-specific proteins and have transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) values greater than 2500 Ωtextperiodcenteredcm(2). By assessing the permeabilities of several known drugs,a benchmarking system to evaluate brain permeability of drugs was established. Furthermore,relationships between TEER and permeability to both small and large molecules were established,demonstrating that different minimum TEER thresholds must be achieved to study the brain transport of these two classes of drugs. This work demonstrates that this hPSC-derived BBB model exhibits an in vivo-like phenotype,and the benchmarks established here are useful for assessing functionality of other in vitro BBB models. View Publication

Fibroblasts from a male patient with compound heterozygous variants in the tyrosine hydroxylase gene (TH; OMIM: 191290; c.[385-CtextgreaterT]; [692-GtextgreaterC]/p.[R129*]; [R231P]),the rate-limiting enzyme for dopamine synthesis,were reprogrammed to iPSCs using episomal reprogramming delivering the reprogramming factors Oct3/4,Sox2,L-Myc,Lin28,Klf4 and p53 shRNA Okita et al. (2011). Pluripotency of TH-1 iPSC was verified by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analysis. Cells exhibited a normal karyotype and differentiated spontaneously into the 3 germ layers in vitro. TH-1 iPSC represents the first model system to study the pathomechanism of this rare metabolic disease and provides a useful tool for drug testing. View Publication

Spinocerebellar ataxia type3 (SCA3) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder. Human embryonic stem cell line chHES-472 was derived from abnormal embryo donated by SCA3 patient after preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) treatment. This cell line had a normal karyotype and retained the disease-causing mutant in ATXN3 gene. Characteristic tests proved that the embryonic stem cell line presented typical markers of pluripotency and had the capability to form the three germlayers in vivo. View Publication

In vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) recapitulates early aspects of human embryogenesis,but the underlying processes are poorly understood and controlled. Here we show that modulating the bulk cell density (BCD: cell number per culture volume) deterministically alters anteroposterior patterning of primitive streak (PS)-like priming. The BCD in conjunction with the chemical WNT pathway activator CHIR99021 results in distinct paracrine microenvironments codifying hPSCs towards definitive endoderm,precardiac or presomitic mesoderm within the first 24 h of differentiation,respectively. Global gene expression and secretome analysis reveals that TGFß superfamily members,antagonist of Nodal signalling LEFTY1 and CER1,are paracrine determinants restricting PS progression. These data result in a tangible model disclosing how hPSC-released factors deflect CHIR99021-induced lineage commitment over time. By demonstrating a decisive,functional role of the BCD,we show its utility as a method to control lineage-specific differentiation. Furthermore,these findings have profound consequences for inter-experimental comparability,reproducibility,bioprocess optimization and scale-up. View Publication

Previous studies in the mouse indicated that ARID3A plays a critical role in the first cell fate decision required for generation of trophectoderm (TE). Here,we demonstrate that ARID3A is widely expressed during mouse and human placentation and essential for early embryonic viability. ARID3A localizes to trophoblast giant cells and other trophoblast-derived cell subtypes in the junctional and labyrinth zones of the placenta. Conventional Arid3a knockout embryos suffer restricted intrauterine growth with severe defects in placental structural organization. Arid3a null placentas show aberrant expression of subtype-specific markers as well as significant alteration in cytokines,chemokines and inflammatory response-related genes,including previously established markers of human placentation disorders. BMP4-mediated induction of trophoblast stem (TS)-like cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells results in ARID3A up-regulation and cytoplasmic to nuclear translocation. Overexpression of ARID3A in BMP4-mediated TS-like cells up-regulates TE markers,whereas pluripotency markers are down-regulated. Our results reveal an essential,conserved function for ARID3A in mammalian placental development through regulation of both intrinsic and extrinsic developmental programs. View Publication

Host proteins are essential for HIV entry and replication and can be important nonviral therapeutic targets. Large-scale RNA interference (RNAi)-based screens have identified nearly a thousand candidate host factors,but there is little agreement among studies and few factors have been validated. Here we demonstrate that a genome-wide CRISPR-based screen identifies host factors in a physiologically relevant cell system. We identify five factors,including the HIV co-receptors CD4 and CCR5,that are required for HIV infection yet are dispensable for cellular proliferation and viability. Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase 2 (TPST2) and solute carrier family 35 member B2 (SLC35B2) function in a common pathway to sulfate CCR5 on extracellular tyrosine residues,facilitating CCR5 recognition by the HIV envelope. Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) mediates cell aggregation,which is required for cell-to-cell HIV transmission. We validated these pathways in primary human CD4(+) T cells through Cas9-mediated knockout and antibody blockade. Our findings indicate that HIV infection and replication rely on a limited set of host-dispensable genes and suggest that these pathways can be studied for therapeutic intervention. View Publication

Cellular therapy using stem cells in bone regeneration has gained increasing interest. Various studies suggest the clinical utility of osteoprogenitors-like mesenchymal stem cells in bone regeneration. However,limited availability of mesenchymal stem cells and conflicting evidence on their therapeutic efficacy limit their clinical application. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are potentially an unlimited source of healthy and functional osteoprogenitors (OPs) that could be utilized for bone regenerative applications. However,limited ability to track hESC-derived progenies in vivo greatly hinders translational studies. Hence,in this study,we aimed to establish hESC-derived OPs (hESC-OPs) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and to investigate their osteogenic differentiation potential in vitro. We fluorescently labelled H9-hESCs using a plasmid vector encoding GFP. The GFP-expressing hESCs were differentiated into hESC-OPs. The hESC-OPs(GFP+) stably expressed high levels of GFP,CD73,CD90,and CD105. They possessed osteogenic differentiation potential in vitro as demonstrated by increased expression of COL1A1,RUNX2,OSTERIX,and OPG transcripts and mineralized nodules positive for Alizarin Red and immunocytochemical expression of osteocalcin,alkaline phosphatase,and collagen-I. In conclusion,we have demonstrated that fluorescently labelled hESC-OPs can maintain their GFP expression for the long term and their potential for osteogenic differentiation in vitro. In future,these fluorescently labelled hESC-OPs could be used for noninvasive assessment of bone regeneration,safety,and therapeutic efficacy. View Publication