技术资料

Embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity and self-renewal is maintained by extrinsic signaling pathways and intrinsic gene regulatory networks. Here,we show that three members of the Ccr4-Not complex,Cnot1,Cnot2,and Cnot3,play critical roles in maintaining mouse and human ESC identity as a protein complex and inhibit differentiation into the extraembryonic lineages. Enriched in the inner cell mass of blastocysts,these Cnot genes are highly expressed in ESC and downregulated during differentiation. In mouse ESCs,Cnot1,Cnot2,and Cnot3 are important for maintenance in both normal conditions and the 2i/LIF medium that supports the ground state pluripotency. Genetic analysis indicated that they do not act through known self-renewal pathways or core transcription factors. Instead,they repress the expression of early trophectoderm (TE) transcription factors such as Cdx2. Importantly,these Cnot genes are also necessary for the maintenance of human ESCs,and silencing them mainly lead to TE and primitive endoderm differentiation. Together,our results indicate that Cnot1,Cnot2,and Cnot3 represent a novel component of the core self-renewal and pluripotency circuitry conserved in mouse and human ESCs. View Publication

INTRODUCTION: The induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology allows generation of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells,thereby providing a novel cell-therapy platform for severe degenerative diseases. One of the key issues for clinical-grade iPSC derivation is the accessibility of donor cells used for reprogramming. METHODS: We examined the feasibility of reprogramming mobilized GMP-grade hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and tested the pluripotency of derived iPS clones. RESULTS: Ectopic expression of OCT4,SOX2,KLF4,and c-MYC in HPCs and PBMCs resulted in rapid iPSC derivation. Long-term time-lapse imaging revealed efficient iPSC growth under serum- and feeder-free conditions with frequent mitotic events. HPC- and PBMC-derived iPS cells expressed pluripotency-associated markers,including SSEA-4,TRA-1-60,and NANOG. The global gene-expression profiles demonstrated the induction of endogenous pluripotent genes,such as LIN28,TERT,DPPA4,and PODXL,in derived iPSCs. iPSC clones from blood and other cell sources showed similar ultrastructural morphologies and genome-wide gene-expression profiles. On spontaneous and guided differentiation,HPC- and PBMC-derived iPSCs were differentiated into cells of three germ layers,including insulin-producing cells through endodermal lineage,verifying the pluripotency of the blood-derived iPSC clones. CONCLUSIONS: Because the use of blood cells allows minimally invasive tissue procurement under GMP conditions and rapid cellular reprogramming,mobilized HPCs and unmobilized PBMCs would be ideal somatic cell sources for clinical-grade iPSC derivation,especially from diabetes patients complicated by slow-healing wounds. 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

Under defined differentiation conditions,human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be directed toward a mesendoderm (ME) or neuroectoderm (NE) fate,the first decision during hESC differentiation. Coupled with lineage-specific G1 lengthening,a divergent ciliation pattern emerged within the first 24 hr of induced lineage specification,and these changes heralded a neuroectoderm decision before any neural precursor markers were expressed. By day 2,increased ciliation in NE precursors induced autophagy that resulted in the inactivation of Nrf2 and thereby relieved transcriptional activation of OCT4 and NANOG. Nrf2 binds directly to upstream regions of these pluripotency genes to promote their expression and repress NE derivation. Nrf2 suppression was sufficient to rescue poorly neurogenic iPSC lines. Only after these events had been initiated did neural precursor markers get expressed at day 4. Thus,we have identified a primary cilium-autophagy-Nrf2 (PAN) control axis coupled to cell-cycle progression that directs hESCs toward NE. View Publication

HIV-1 Tat-interacting protein of 110 kDa [Tip110; p110(nrb)/SART3/p110] is an RNA binding nuclear protein implicated in regulation of HIV-1 gene and host gene transcription,pre-mRNA splicing,and cancer immunology. Recently,we demonstrated a role for Tip110 in regulation of hematopoiesis. Here,we show that TIP110 is also expressed in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and expression was decreased with differentiation of these ESCs. TIP110 was found,through up- and down-modulation of expression of Tip110,to be important in maintaining pluripotent factor (NANOG,OCT4,and SOX2) expression in and pluripotency of hESCs,although the mechanisms involved and whether the Tip110 effects are direct remain to be determined. View Publication

Sorting (or isolation) and manipulation of rare cells with high recovery rate and purity are of critical importance to a wide range of physiological applications. In the current paper,we report on a generic single cell manipulation tool that integrates optical tweezers and microfluidic chip technologies for handling small cell population sorting with high accuracy. The laminar flow nature of microfluidics enables the targeted cells to be focused on a desired area for cell isolation. To recognize the target cells,we develop an image processing methodology with a recognition capability of multiple features,e.g.,cell size and fluorescence label. The target cells can be moved precisely by optical tweezers to the desired destination in a noninvasive manner. The unique advantages of this sorter are its high recovery rate and purity in small cell population sorting. The design is based on dynamic fluid and dynamic light pattern,in which single as well as multiple laser traps are employed for cell transportation,and a recognition capability of multiple cell features. Experiments of sorting yeast cells and human embryonic stem cells are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed cell sorting approach. View Publication

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells have the dual ability to self-renew and differentiate into specialized cell types. However,in order to realize the full potential of these cells it is important to understand how the genes responsible for their unique characteristics are regulated. In this study we examine the regulation of the tropomyosin-related kinase (TRK) genes which encode for receptors important in hES cell survival and self-renewal. Although the TRK genes have been studied in many neuronal cell types,the regulation of these genes in hES cells is unclear. Our study demonstrates a novel regulatory relationship between the TRKC gene and the transcription factor SOX2. Our results found that hES cells highly express full-length and truncated forms of the TRKC gene. However,examination of the related TRKB gene showed a lower overall expression of both full-length and truncated forms. Through RNA interference,we knocked down expression levels of SOX2 in hES cells and examined the expression of TRKC,as well as TRKB. Upon loss of SOX2 we found that TRKC mRNA levels were significantly downregulated but TRKB levels remained unchanged,demonstrating an important regulatory dependence on SOX2 by TRKC. We also found that TRKC protein levels were also decreased after SOX2 knock down. Further analysis found the regulatory region of TRKC to be highly conserved among many mammals with potential SOX binding motifs. We confirmed a specific binding motif as a site that SOX2 utilizes to directly interact with the TRKC regulatory region. In addition,we found that SOX2 drives expression of the TRKC gene by activating a luciferase reporter construct containing the TRKC regulatory region and the SOX binding motif. View Publication

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and derived progeny provide invaluable regenerative platforms,yet their clinical translation has been compromised by their biosafety concern. Here,we assessed the safety of transplanting patient-derived iPSC-generated pancreatic endoderm/ progenitor cells. Transplantation of progenitors from iPSCs reprogrammed by lentiviral vectors (LV-iPSCs) led to the formation of invasive teratocarcinoma-like tumors in more than 90% of immu-nodeficient mice. Moreover,removal of primary tumors from LV-iPSC progeny-transplanted hosts generated secondary and metastatic tumors. Combined transgene-free (TGF) reprogramming and elimination of residual pluripotent cells by enzymatic dissociation ensured tumor-free transplanta-tion,ultimately enabling regeneration of type 1 diabetes-specific human islet structures in vivo. The incidence of tumor formation in TGF-iPSCs was titratable,depending on the oncogenic load,with reintegration of the cMYC expressing vector abolishing tumor-free transplantation. Thus,transgene-free cMYC-independent reprogramming and elimination of residual pluripotent cells are mandatory steps in achieving transplantation of iPSC progeny for customized and safe islet regeneration in vivo. STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 2016;5:694–702 SIGNIFICANCE Pluripotent stem cell therapy for diabetes relies on the safety as well as the quality of derived insulin-producing cells. Data from this study highlight prominent tumorigenic risks of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) products,especially when reprogrammed with integrating vectors. Two major under-lying mechanisms in iPSC tumorigenicity are residual pluripotent cells and cMYC overload by vector integration. This study also demonstrated that combined transgene-free reprogramming and enzy-matic dissociation allows teratoma-free transplantation of iPSC progeny in the mouse model in test-ing the tumorigenicity of iPSC products. Further safety assessment and improvement in iPSC specification into a mature b cell phenotype would lead to safe islet replacement therapy for diabetes. View Publication

Precise,robust and scalable directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells is an important goal with respect to disease modeling or future therapies. Using the AggreWell™400 system we have standardized the differentiation of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to a neuronal fate using defined conditions. This allows reproducibility in replicate experiments and facilitates the direct comparison of cell lines. Since the starting point for EB formation is a single cell suspension,this protocol is suitable for standard and novel methods of pluripotent stem cell culture. Moreover,an intermediate population of neural precursor cells,which are routinely textgreater95% NCAM(pos) and Tra-1-60(neg) by FACS analysis,may be expanded and frozen prior to differentiation allowing a convenient starting point for downstream experiments. View Publication