基于人多潜能干细胞的人类疾病研究与治疗

人多潜能干细胞(hPSC)包括人胚胎干细胞(hESC)和诱导性多潜能干细胞(hiPSC),理论上具有分化成为人类所有细胞类型的能力.基于hPSC的基因打靶技术,不但可以纠正人基因组中的遗传突变用于细胞治疗,还可以通过反向遗传学的方式向hPSC引入疾病特异的突变.将携带人类疾病遗传基因的hPSC分化为特定的细胞类型,在理论上可以在体外模拟人类疾病的发生,研究人类疾病发生的机理,并建立体外筛选平台寻找治疗性药物.基因编辑和干细胞技术的结合将为人类疾病的机制研究和再生医学治疗带来革命性的突破.     

人类多能干细胞向脊髓前角运动神经元定向分化方法研究进展:从发育生物学到临床转化

人类多能干细胞(human pluripotent stem cell,hPSC)包括人胚胎干细胞(embryonic stem cell,ESC)及人诱导多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cell,iPSC),它们具有向人体多种类型细胞分化的潜能。近年来,其体外定向分化为脊髓前角运动神经元的研究取得了一定进展。该文基于对神经发育的理解,回顾总结了hPSC向脊髓前角运动神经元定向分化的研究进展,并介绍了它们在研究人类神经发育、对疾病进行体外建模和细胞替代疗法方面的应用。     

人类多能干细胞源心肌细胞的研究进展与应用前景

人类多能干细胞(human pluripotent stem cells,hPSC)具有无限增殖的能力并可体外分化成心肌细胞,可作为新型的细胞源用于心脏疾病的细胞替代疗法、药物检测及心脏发育生物学的基础研究。hPSC包括人胚胎干细胞(human embryonic stem cells,hESC)和诱导型人多能干细胞(human induced pluripotent stem cells,hiPSC),后者的出现不仅使干细胞个性化治疗成为可能,同时规避了人胚胎干细胞应用的医学伦理问题,具有较大的发展空间。尽管hPSC源心肌细胞的应用研究已取得极大进展,但将这种心肌细胞应用于临床仍有许多技术问题需要解决。该文将综述hPSC源心肌细胞的技术进展,探讨hPSC源心肌细胞的应用前景,并对存在的问题和挑战也进行了讨论。     

基因编辑人多能干细胞用于心脏疾病研究

心血管疾病(cardiovascular disease,CVD)是导致人类死亡的主要原因之一。体外的细胞模型有助于提高对这些疾病的研究能力。人多能干细胞(human pluripotent stem cell,hPSC)的多向分化潜能,为建立各种细胞或组织模型提供了可能。同时,近年来开发的几种新型基因组编辑工具,包括CRISPR/Cas系统、碱基编辑器(base editor,BE)以及引导编辑器(prime editor,PE)大大提高了构建和测试细胞疾病模型的速度和有效性。人多能干细胞和基因组编辑技术的结合为理解和治疗疾病提供了新的方法。在这篇综述中,讨论了几种最流行的基因组编辑技术的优缺点,以及其在心血管疾病中潜在的应用。     

基因组编辑技术在干细胞疾病模型和疾病治疗中的应用

基于人类多能干细胞(human pluripotent stem cells,h PSCs)的疾病模拟体系提供了一个全新的疾病研究平台。携带特定致病突变的h PSCs可以通过患者体细胞重编程成诱导性多能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cells,i PSCs)获得,或者通过向野生型h PSCs中引入致病突变获得。获得的突变h PSCs及其野生型对照细胞株在体外诱导下可以分化为疾病相关体细胞类型,继而被用于疾病模拟和机理研究。近几年出现的基因组编辑技术使得疾病模拟平台的建立更加高效和优化。主要讨论干细胞疾病模拟领域的进展,以及基因组编辑技术在干细胞疾病模拟和疾病治疗中的应用。     

诱导性多潜能干细胞(iPS细胞)的研究进展

通过转染特定的基因组合可以将已分化的体细胞重编程为多潜能干细胞,这种干细胞称为诱导性多潜能干细胞(induced pluripotent stem cells,iPS cells)。这是近年来干细胞研究领域最令人瞩目的一项新的干细胞制备技术。iPS细胞的出现不仅为体细胞重编程去分化机制的研究提供了新的模型,而且为疾病发生发展相关机制研究与特异的细胞治疗带来了新的希望。就当前获取iPS细胞的方法、影响iPS细胞转化率和多能性维持的一些因素及其研究进展进行综述。     

人胚胎干细胞向生殖细胞分化的研究进展

小鼠胚胎干细胞体外已成功诱导分化为配子细胞,人胚胎干细胞理论上也具备分化为生殖细胞的潜能。本文从影响人胚胎干细胞体外向生殖系分化的基因调控和干细胞小生境（niche）方面进行综述,并指出胚胎干细胞在生殖医学及不孕治疗中的研究方向和应用前景。     

干细胞对肝脏疾病的治疗现状及前景

一、国内外干细胞研究与应用现状干细胞生物学兴起为包括终末期肝病在内的多种难治性人类疾病治疗带来新的希望。干细胞具有高度的自我更新及多向分化潜能。自我更新特性使得干细胞可以成为一个源源不竭的细胞库,克服了肝细胞增殖能力有限的问题;多向分化潜能赋予干细胞一定的可塑性,分化为具有功能的肝细胞。在体外,将干细胞诱导分化为肝细胞,可以解决生物人工肝种子细胞来源困难的问题。在体内,将干细胞经肝动静脉回输入肝脏,从一定程度上提高终末     

胚胎干细胞体外诱导分化

胚胎干细胞能在体外长期不断自我更新,具有高度分化潜能,可分化成胎儿和成体的几乎所有类型的细胞,如心肌细胞、神经细胞、上皮细胞、肝细胞、血细胞、胰岛细胞、脂肪细胞及生殖细胞等.在细胞治疗和组织器官替代治疗、发育生物学等的研究中将具有广阔的应用前景.目前已有多种胚胎干细胞体外定向诱导的报道.本文从体外诱导分化影响因素和几种主要诱导细胞类型进行分析和总结,为胚胎干细胞的诱导分化研究提供参考资料.     

小鼠胚胎干细胞体外发育分化模型

胚胎干细胞 (Embryonicstemcell ,EScell)是多潜能性细胞 ,它在体外既可维持不分化而无限增殖 ,又能参与胚胎发育分化为各种类型细胞和组织而形成器官 ;小鼠ES细胞可供的数量大、在体外培养条件可进行精确调控、实验比较经济加上现代基因及其他生物操作等技术 ,因此小鼠ES细胞体外发育分化系统被广泛地作为模型系统加以利用。小鼠ES细胞体外发育分化研究为推动其他哺乳类动物以及人的ES细胞研究 ,从而将更好地进行细胞、组织工程实验为人类细胞组织和基因治疗服务创造了有利条件。本文将ES细胞体外发育分化情况加以概述 ,以便更好地开展ES细胞体外研究     

Sialyl-lactotetra,a Novel Cell Surface Marker of Undifferentiated Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Cell surface glycoconjugates are used as markers for undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells. Here, antibody binding and mass spectrometry characterization of acid glycosphingolipids isolated from a large number (1 × 10⁹ cells) of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines allowed identification of several novel acid glycosphingolipids, like the gangliosides sialyl-lactotetraosylceramide and sialyl-globotetraosylceramide, and the sulfated glycosphingolipids sulfatide, sulf-lactosylceramide, and sulf-globopentaosylceramide. A high cell surface expression of sialyl-lactotetra on hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) was demonstrated by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy, whereas sulfated glycosphingolipids were only found in intracellular compartments. Immunohistochemistry showed distinct cell surface anti-sialyl-lactotetra staining on all seven hESC lines and three hiPSC lines analyzed, whereas no staining of hESC-derived hepatocyte-like or cardiomyocyte-like cells was obtained. Upon differentiation of hiPSC into hepatocyte-like cells, the sialyl-lactotetra epitope was rapidly down-regulated and not detectable after 14 days. These findings identify sialyl-lactotetra as a promising marker of undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells.     

miR-371-3 expression predicts neural differentiation propensity in human pluripotent stem cells

The use of pluripotent stem cells in regenerative medicine and disease modeling is complicated by the variation in differentiation properties between lines. In this study, we characterized 13 human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and 26 human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines to identify markers that predict neural differentiation behavior. At a general level, markers previously known to distinguish mouse ESCs from epiblast stem cells (EPI-SCs) correlated with neural differentiation behavior. More specifically, quantitative analysis of miR-371-3 expression prospectively identified hESC and hiPSC lines with differential neurogenic differentiation propensity and in vivo dopamine neuron engraftment potential. Transient KLF4 transduction increased miR-371-3 expression and altered neurogenic behavior and pluripotency marker expression. Conversely, suppression of miR-371-3 expression in KLF4-transduced cells rescued neural differentiation propensity. miR-371-3 expression level therefore appears to have both a predictive and a functional role in determining human pluripotent stem cell neurogenic differentiation behavior.     

Serum supplemented culture medium masks hypertrophic phenotypes in human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes

It has been known for over 20 years that foetal calf serum can induce hypertrophy in cultured cardiomyocytes but this is rarely considered when examining cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent stem cells (PSC). Here, we determined how serum affected cardiomyocytes from human embryonic‐ (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and hiPSC from patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy linked to a mutation in the MYBPC3 gene. We first confirmed previously published hypertrophic effects of serum on cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes demonstrated as increased cell surface area and beating frequency. We then found that serum increased the cell surface area of hESC‐ and hiPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes and their spontaneous contraction rate. Phenylephrine, which normally induces cardiac hypertrophy, had no additional effects under serum conditions. Likewise, hiPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes from three MYBPC3 patients which had a greater surface area than controls in the absence of serum as predicted by their genotype, did not show this difference in the presence of serum. Serum can thus alter the phenotype of human PSC derived cardiomyocytes under otherwise defined conditions such that the effects of hypertrophic drugs and gene mutations are underestimated. It is therefore pertinent to examine cardiac phenotypes in culture media without or in low concentrations of serum.     

Copy number variations (CNVs) in human pluripotent cell-derived neuroprogenitors

Results from the analysis of copy number variations (CNVs) in human pluripotent cell-derived neuroprogenitor cell lines (hiPSC and hESC-derived NPC) are presented. Two different types of CNVs were detected: a) CNVs inherited from the original source of pluripotent cells (hESC and hiPSC) and b) CNVs detected either in the original source of pluripotent cells or in the derived NPC cell lines but not in both at the same time. Our data suggest that submicroscopic chromosomal changes happened during culture and manipulation of cells and those differentiation procedures could result in gains and losses of genomic regions in pluripotent cell-derived neuroprogenitors. Overall, the results indicate that even chromosomally stable stem cell lines would need to be analyzed in detail by high resolution methodologies before their clinical use.     

Feeder-free Derivation of Neural Crest Progenitor Cells from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have great potential for studying human embryonic development, for modeling human diseases in the dish and as a source of transplantable cells for regenerative applications after disease or accidents. Neural crest (NC) cells are the precursors for a large variety of adult somatic cells, such as cells from the peripheral nervous system and glia, melanocytes and mesenchymal cells. They are a valuable source of cells to study aspects of human embryonic development, including cell fate specification and migration. Further differentiation of NC progenitor cells into terminally differentiated cell types offers the possibility to model human diseases in vitro, investigate disease mechanisms and generate cells for regenerative medicine. This article presents the adaptation of a currently available in vitro differentiation protocol for the derivation of NC cells from hPSCs. This new protocol requires 18 days of differentiation, is feeder-free, easily scalable and highly reproducible among human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines as well as human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines. Both old and new protocols yield NC cells of equal identity.     

Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy reveals unique phenotypes for human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cell lines and their progeny

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy was employed to elucidate the macromolecular phenotype of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and their differentiated progeny. Undifferentiated hESCs and hiPSC lines were found to be not clearly distinguishable from each other. However, although both hESC and hiPSC variants appeared to undergo similar changes during differentiation in terms of cell surface antigens, the derived cell types from all cell lines could be discriminated using FTIR spectroscopy. We foresee a possible future role for FTIR microspectroscopy as a powerful and objective investigative and quality control tool in regenerative medicine. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Propagation of human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells in an indirect co-culture system

We have developed and validated a microporous poly(ethylene terephthalate) membrane-based indirect co-culture system for human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) propagation, which allows real-time conditioning of the culture medium with human fibroblasts while maintaining the complete separation of the two cell types. The propagation and pluripotent characteristics of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line and a human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) line were studied in prolonged culture in this system. We report that hPSCs cultured on membranes by indirect co-culture with fibroblasts were indistinguishable by multiple criteria from hPSCs cultured directly on a fibroblast feeder layer. Thus this co-culture system is a significant advance in hPSC culture methods, providing a facile stem cell expansion system with continuous medium conditioning while preventing mixing of hPSCs and feeder cells. This membrane culture method will enable testing of novel feeder cells and differentiation studies using co-culture with other cell types, and will simplify stepwise changes in culture conditions for staged differentiation protocols.     

A universal system for highly efficient cardiac differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells that eliminates interline variability

Background

The production of cardiomyocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) holds great promise for patient-specific cardiotoxicity drug testing, disease modeling, and cardiac regeneration. However, existing protocols for the differentiation of hiPSC to the cardiac lineage are inefficient and highly variable. We describe a highly efficient system for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and hiPSC to the cardiac lineage. This system eliminated the variability in cardiac differentiation capacity of a variety of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC), including hiPSC generated from CD34⁺ cord blood using non-viral, non-integrating methods.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We systematically and rigorously optimized >45 experimental variables to develop a universal cardiac differentiation system that produced contracting human embryoid bodies (hEB) with an improved efficiency of 94.7±2.4% in an accelerated nine days from four hESC and seven hiPSC lines tested, including hiPSC derived from neonatal CD34⁺ cord blood and adult fibroblasts using non-integrating episomal plasmids. This cost-effective differentiation method employed forced aggregation hEB formation in a chemically defined medium, along with staged exposure to physiological (5%) oxygen, and optimized concentrations of mesodermal morphogens BMP4 and FGF2, polyvinyl alcohol, serum, and insulin. The contracting hEB derived using these methods were composed of high percentages (64–89%) of cardiac troponin I⁺ cells that displayed ultrastructural properties of functional cardiomyocytes and uniform electrophysiological profiles responsive to cardioactive drugs.

Conclusion/Significance

This efficient and cost-effective universal system for cardiac differentiation of hiPSC allows a potentially unlimited production of functional cardiomyocytes suitable for application to hPSC-based drug development, cardiac disease modeling, and the future generation of clinically-safe nonviral human cardiac cells for regenerative medicine.