参考文献

Familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is an autosomal dominant protein-folding disorder caused by over 100 distinct mutations in the transthyretin (TTR) gene. In ATTR,protein secreted from the liver aggregates and forms fibrils in target organs,chiefly the heart and peripheral nervous system,highlighting the need for a model capable of recapitulating the multisystem complexity of this clinically variable disease. Here,we describe detailed methodologies for the directed differentiation of protein folding disease-specific iPSCs into hepatocytes that produce mutant protein,and neural-lineage cells often targeted in disease. Methodologies are also described for the construction of multisystem models and drug screening using iPSCs. View Publication

BACKGROUND The therapeutic use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is dependent on an efficient cryopreservation protocol for long-term storage. The aim of this study was to determine whether the combination of three cryoprotecting reagents using two freezing systems might improve hESC recovery rates with maintenance of hESC pluripotency properties for potential cell therapy application. METHODS Recovery rates of hESC colonies which were frozen in three cryoprotective solutions: Me2SO/HES/SR medium,Defined-medium® and Me2SO/SFB in medium solution were evaluated in ultra-slow programmable freezing system (USPF) and a slow-rate freezing system (SRF). The hESC pluripotency properties after freezing-thawing were evaluated. RESULTS We estimated the distribution frequency of survival colonies and observed that independent of the freezing system used (USPF or SRF) the best results were obtained with Me2SO/HES/SR as cryopreservation medium. We showed a significant hESC recovery colonies rate after thawing in Me2SO/HES/SR medium were 3.88 and 2.9 in USPF and SRF,respectively. The recovery colonies rate with Defined-medium® were 1.05 and 1.07 however in classical Me2SO medium were 0.5 and 0.86 in USPF and SRF,respectively. We showed significant difference between Me2SO/HES/SR medium×Defined-medium® and between Me2SO/HES/SR medium×Me2SO medium,for two cryopreservation systems (Ptextless0.05). CONCLUSION We developed an in house protocol using the combination of Me2SO/HES/SR medium and ultra-slow programmable freezing system which resulted in hESC colonies that remain undifferentiated,maintain their in vitro and in vivo pluripotency properties and genetic stability. This approach may be suitable for cell therapy studies. View Publication

The clinical use of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) requires efficient cellular expansion that must be paired with an ability to generate specialized progeny through differentiation. Self-renewal and differentiation are deemed inherent hallmarks of hESCs and a growing body of evidence suggests that initial culture conditions dictate these two aspects of hESC behavior. Here,we reveal that defined culture conditions using commercial mTeSR1 media augment the expansion of hESCs and enhance their capacity for neural differentiation at the expense of hematopoietic lineage competency without affecting pluripotency. This culture-induced modification was shown to be reversible,as culture in mouse embryonic fibroblast-conditioned media (MEF-CM) in subsequent passages allowed mTeSR1-expanded hESCs to re-establish hematopoietic differentiation potential. Optimal yield of hematopoietic cells can be achieved by expansion in mTeSR1 followed by a recovery period in MEF-CM. Furthermore,the lineage propensity to hematopoietic and neural cell types could be predicted via analysis of surrogate markers expressed by hESCs cultured in mTeSR1 versus MEF-CM,thereby circumventing laborious in vitro differentiation assays. Our study reveals that hESCs exist in a range of functional states and balance expansion with differentiation potential,which can be modulated by culture conditions in a predictive and quantitative manner. Stem Cells 2015;33:1142-1152. View Publication

HIV-1 infection leads to numerous B cell abnormalities,including hypergammaglobulinemia,nonspecific B cell activation,nonspecific class switching,increased cell turnover,breakage of tolerance,increased immature/transitional B cells,B cell malignancies,as well as a loss of capacity to generate and maintain memory,all of which contribute to a global impairment of the immune humoral compartment. Several cytokines and soluble factors,which are increased in sera of HIV-1-infected individuals,have been suggested to directly or indirectly contribute to these B cell dysfunctions,and one of these is the B cell-activating factor (BAFF). We report in this study that HIV-1 (X4- and R5-tropic) upregulates BAFF expression and secretion by human monocytes. Moreover,we show that the virus-mediated production of BAFF by monocytes relies on a type I IFN response by a small percentage of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) present in the monocyte cultures. HIV-1-induced type I IFN by pDCs triggers BAFF production in both classical and intermediate monocytes,but not in nonclassical monocytes,which nonetheless display a very strong basal BAFF production. We report also that basal BAFF secretion was higher in monocytes obtained from females compared with those from male donors. This study provides a novel mechanistic explanation for the increased BAFF levels observed during HIV-1 infection and highlights the importance of pDC/monocyte crosstalk to drive BAFF secretion. View Publication

Manipulation of the CD28/CTLA-4 pathway is at the heart of a number of immunomodulatory approaches used in both autoimmunity and cancer. Although it is clear that CTLA-4 is a critical regulator of T cell responses,the immunological contexts in which CTLA-4 controls immune responses are not well defined. In this study,we show that whereas CD80/CD86-dependent activation of resting human T cells caused extensive T cell proliferation and robust CTLA-4 expression,in this context CTLA-4 blocking Abs had no impact on the response. In contrast,in settings where CTLA-4(+) cells were present as regulators View Publication

Mitochondrial dynamics play an important role in numerous physiological and pathophysiological phenomena in the developing and adult human heart. Alterations in structural aspects of cellular mitochondrial composition as a function of changes in physiology can easily be visualized using fluorescence microscopy. Commonly,mitochondrial location,number,and morphology are reported qualitatively due to the lack of automated and user-friendly computer-based analysis tools. Mitochondrial Quantification using MATLAB (MQM) is a computer-based tool to quantitatively assess these parameters by analyzing fluorescently labeled mitochondria within the cell; in particular,MQM provides numerical information on the number,area,and location of mitochondria within a cell in a time-efficient,automated,and unbiased way. This chapter describes the use of MQM's capabilities to quantify mitochondrial changes during human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) differentiation into spontaneously contracting cardiomyocytes (SC-CMs),which follows physiological pathways of human heart development. View Publication

Mast cells are tissue-resident immune cells that play a key role in inflammation and allergy. Here we show that interaction of mast cells with antibody-targeted cells induces the polarized exocytosis of their granules resulting in a sustained exposure of effector enzymes,such as tryptase and chymase,at the cell-cell contact site. This previously unidentified mast cell effector mechanism,which we name the antibody-dependent degranulatory synapse (ADDS),is triggered by both IgE- and IgG-targeted cells. ADDSs take place within an area of cortical actin cytoskeleton clearance in the absence of microtubule organizing centre and Golgi apparatus repositioning towards the stimulating cell. Remarkably,IgG-mediated degranulatory synapses also occur upon contact with opsonized Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites resulting in tryptase-dependent parasite death. Our results broaden current views of mast cell degranulation by revealing that human mast cells form degranulatory synapses with antibody-targeted cells and pathogens for dedicated secretion and defence. View Publication

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based technologies offer an unprecedented opportunity to perform high-throughput screening of novel drugs for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Such screenings require a robust and scalable method for generating large numbers of mature,differentiated neuronal cells. Currently available methods based on differentiation of embryoid bodies (EBs) or directed differentiation of adherent culture systems are either expensive or are not scalable. We developed a protocol for large-scale generation of neuronal stem cells (NSCs)/early neural progenitor cells (eNPCs) and their differentiation into neurons. Our scalable protocol allows robust and cost-effective generation of NSCs/eNPCs from iPSCs. Following culture in neurobasal medium supplemented with B27 and BDNF,NSCs/eNPCs differentiate predominantly into vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) positive neurons. Targeted mass spectrometry analysis demonstrates that iPSC-derived neurons express ligand-gated channels and other synaptic proteins and whole-cell patch-clamp experiments indicate that these channels are functional. The robust and cost-effective differentiation protocol described here for large-scale generation of NSCs/eNPCs and their differentiation into neurons paves the way for automated high-throughput screening of drugs for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. View Publication

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can differentiate to cardiomyocytes in vitro,offering unique opportunities to investigate cardiac development and disease as well as providing a platform to perform drug and toxicity tests. Initial cardiac differentiation methods were based on either inductive co-culture or aggregation as embryoid bodies,often in the presence of fetal calf serum. More recently,monolayer differentiation protocols have evolved as feasible alternatives and are often performed in completely defined culture medium and substrates. Thus,our ability to efficiently and reproducibly generate cardiomyocytes from multiple different hESC and hiPSC lines has improved significantly.We have developed a directed differentiation monolayer protocol that can be used to generate cultures comprising ˜50% cardiomyocytes,in which both the culture of the undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and the differentiation procedure itself are defined and serum-free. The differentiation method is also effective for hPSCs maintained in other culture systems. In this chapter,we outline the differentiation protocol and describe methods to assess cardiac differentiation efficiency as well as to identify and quantify the yield of cardiomyocytes. View Publication

Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) are commonly used as feeder cells for the generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). However,medical applications of cell derivatives of hiPSCs generated with a MEF feeder system run the risk of having xeno-factor contamination due to long-term cell culturing under an animal factor-containing environment. We developed a new method for the derivation of human fibroblast-like cells (FLCs) from a previously established hiPSC line in an FLC differentiation medium. The method was based on direct differentiation of hiPSCs seeded on Matrigel followed by expansion of differentiating cells on gelatin. Using inactivated FLCs as feeder layers,primary human foreskin fibroblasts were successfully reprogrammed into a state of pluripotency by Oct4,Sox2 Klf4,and c-Myc (OSKM) transcription factor genes,with a reprogramming efficiency under an optimized condition superior to that obtained on MEF feeder layers. Furthermore,the FLCs were more effective in supporting the growth of human pluripotent stem cells. The pluripotency and differentiation capability of the cells cultured on FLC feeder layers were well retained. Our results suggest that FLCs are a safe alternative to MEFs for hiPSC generation and expansion,especially in the clinical settings wherein hiPSC derivatives will be used for medical treatment. View Publication